pnpm link

Alias: ln

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

pnpm link <dir>

Opzioni

pnpm link <dir>

Links package from <dir> directory to node_modules of package from where you're executing this command. <dir> must be a relative or absolute path.

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.

Use Cases

Replace an installed package with a local version of it

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 # install dependencies of foo
cd ~/projects/my-project
pnpm link ~/projects/foo # link foo to my-project

Add a binary globally

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. You can modify the source code of the linked package, and the changes will be reflected in your project. With this method pnpm will not install the dependencies of the linked package, you will have to install them manually in the source code. 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.

info

When dealing with peer dependencies it is recommended to use the file: protocol. It better resolves the peer dependencies from the project dependencies, ensuring that the linked dependency correctly uses the versions of the dependencies specified in your main project, leading to more consistent and expected behaviors.

Funzionalità	pnpm link	file: Protocol
Symlink/Hard-link	Symlink	Hard-link
Reflects source code modifications	Yes	Yes
Installs dependencies of the linked package	No (manual installation required)	Yes (overrides node_modules of the linked package)
Use different package manager for dependency	Possible (e.g., use npm for linked pkg)	No, it will use pnpm