pnpm link

Aliases: ln

Makes the current local package accessible system-wide, or in another location.

pnpm link <dir>
pnpm link --global
pnpm link --global <pkg>

Options

--dir <dir>, -C

• Default: Current working directory
• Type: Path string

Changes the link location to <dir>.

pnpm link <dir>

Links package from <dir> folder to node_modules of package from where you're executing this command or specified via --dir option.

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 --global

Links package from location where this command was executed or specified via --dir option to global node_modules, so it can be referred from another package with pnpm link --global <pkg>. Also if the package has a bin field, then the package's binaries become available system-wide.

pnpm link --global <pkg>

Links the specified package (<pkg>) from global node_modules to the node_modules of package from where this command was executed or specified via --dir option.

Difference between pnpm link <dir> and pnpm link --dir <dir>

pnpm link <dir> links the package from <dir> to the node_modules of the package where the command was executed. pnpm link --dir <dir> links the package from the current working directory to <dir>.

# The current directory is foo
pnpm link ../bar

- foo
  - node_modules
    - bar -> ../../bar
- bar

# The current directory is bar
pnpm link --dir ../foo

- foo
  - node_modules
    - bar -> ../../bar
- 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, while the package.json won't be modified.

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

You can also link a package from a directory to another directory, without using the global node_modules folder:

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

If you are developing a package that has a binary, for example, a CLI tool, you can use pnpm link --global to make the binary available system-wide. This is the same as using pnpm install -g foo, but it will use the local version of foo instead of downloading it from the registry.

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

cd ~/projects/foo
pnpm install # install dependencies of foo
pnpm link --global # link foo globally

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.

Feature	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