pnpm link

Aliases: ln

Links a local package to the current project's node_modules.

pnpm link <dir>...

Usage#

pnpm link <dir>...#

Links the package from each <dir> directory to node_modules of the package from where you're executing this command. <dir> must be a relative or absolute path. A relative path is resolved against the directory you run the command in. Passing a package name, or no argument, fails with ERR_PNPM_LINK_BAD_PARAMS.

For example, if you are inside ~/projects/foo and you execute pnpm link ../bar, then a link to bar will be created in foo/node_modules/bar.

pnpm link writes two entries:

• a link: dependency in package.json, if the package is not declared there yet;
• an overrides entry <name>: link:<path> in the root pnpm-workspace.yaml, so the link applies throughout the workspace.

pnpm warns about peer dependencies of the linked package. pnpm unlink removes the overrides.

Use cases#

Reemplazar un paquete instalado con una versión local del mismo#

Let's say you have a project that uses foo package. You want to make changes to foo and test them in your project. In this scenario, you can use pnpm link to link the local version of foo to your project:

cd ~/projects/foo
pnpm install # instala dependencias de foo
cd ~/projects/my-project
pnpm link ~/projects/foo # vincula foo a my-project

Añadir un binario globalmente#

To make a local package's binaries available system-wide, use pnpm add -g . instead:

cd ~/projects/foo
pnpm install # install dependencies of foo
pnpm add -g . # register foo's bins globally

Remember that the binary will be available only if the package has a bin field in its package.json.

What's the difference between pnpm link and using the file: protocol?#

When you use pnpm link, the linked package is symlinked from the source code. Usted puede modificar el código fuente del paquete vinculado y los cambios se reflejarán en su proyecto. Con este método, pnpm no instalará las dependencias del paquete vinculado, tendrá que instalarlas manualmente en el código fuente. This may be useful when you have to use a specific package manager for the linked package, for example, if you want to use npm for the linked package, but pnpm for your project.

When you use the file: protocol in dependencies, the linked package is hard-linked to your project node_modules, you can modify the source code of the linked package, and the changes will be reflected in your project. With this method pnpm will also install the dependencies of the linked package, overriding the node_modules of the linked package.