package.json
The manifest file of a package. It contains all the package's metadata, including dependencies, title, author, et cetera. This is a standard preserved across all major Node.JS package managers, including pnpm.
engines
You can specify the version of Node and pnpm that your software works on:
{
"engines": {
"node": ">=10",
"pnpm": ">=3"
}
}
During local development, pnpm will always fail with an error message
if its version does not match the one specified in the engines field.
Unless the user has set the engine-strict config flag (see .npmrc), this
field is advisory only and will only produce warnings when your package is
installed as a dependency.
dependenciesMeta
Additional meta information used for dependencies declared inside dependencies, optionalDependencies, and devDependencies.
dependenciesMeta.*.injected
If this is set to true for a dependency that is a local workspace package, that package will be installed by creating a hard linked copy in the virtual store (node_modules/.pnpm).
If this is set to false or not set, then the dependency will instead be installed by creating a node_modules symlink that points to the package's source directory in the workspace. This is the default, as it is faster and ensures that any modifications to the dependency will be immediately visible to its consumers.
For example, suppose the following package.json is a local workspace package:
{
"name": "card",
"dependencies": {
"button": "workspace:1.0.0"
}
}
The button dependency will normally be installed by creating a symlink in the node_modules directory of card, pointing to the development directory for button.
But what if button specifies react in its peerDependencies? If all projects in the monorepo use the same version of react, then there is no problem. But what if button is required by card that uses react@16 and form that uses react@17? Normally you'd have to choose a single version of react and specify it using devDependencies of button. Symlinking does not provide a way for the react peer dependency to be satisfied differently by different consumers such as card and form.
The injected field solves this problem by installing a hard linked copies of button in the virtual store. To accomplish this, the package.json of card could be configured as follows:
{
"name": "card",
"dependencies": {
"button": "workspace:1.0.0",
"react": "16"
},
"dependenciesMeta": {
"button": {
"injected": true
}
}
}
Whereas the package.json of form could be configured as follows:
{
"name": "form",
"dependencies": {
"button": "workspace:1.0.0",
"react": "17"
},
"dependenciesMeta": {
"button": {
"injected": true
}
}
}
With these changes, we say that button is an "injected dependency" of card and form. When button imports react, it will resolve to react@16 in the context of card, but resolve to react@17 in the context of form.
Because injected dependencies produce copies of their workspace source directory, these copies must be updated somehow whenever the code is modified; otherwise, the new state will not be reflected for consumers. When building multiple projects with a command such as pnpm --recursive run build, this update must occur after each injected package is rebuilt but before its consumers are rebuilt. For simple use cases, it can be accomplished by invoking pnpm install again, perhaps using a package.json lifecycle script such as "prepare": "pnpm run build" to rebuild that one project. Third party tools such as pnpm-sync and pnpm-sync-dependencies-meta-injected provide a more robust and efficient solution for updating injected dependencies, as well as watch mode support.
peerDependenciesMeta
This field lists some extra information related to the dependencies listed in
the peerDependencies field.
peerDependenciesMeta.*.optional
If this is set to true, the selected peer dependency will be marked as optional by the package manager. Therefore, the consumer omitting it will no longer be reported as an error.
For example:
{
"peerDependencies": {
"foo": "1"
},
"peerDependenciesMeta": {
"foo": {
"optional": true
},
"bar": {
"optional": true
}
}
}
Note that even though bar was not specified in peerDependencies, it is
marked as optional. pnpm will therefore assume that any version of bar is fine.
However, foo is optional, but only to the required version specification.
publishConfig
It is possible to override some fields in the manifest before the package is packed. The following fields may be overridden:
To override a field, add the publish version of the field to publishConfig.
For instance, the following package.json:
{
"name": "foo",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "src/index.ts",
"publishConfig": {
"main": "lib/index.js",
"typings": "lib/index.d.ts"
}
}
Will be published as:
{
"name": "foo",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "lib/index.js",
"typings": "lib/index.d.ts"
}
publishConfig.executableFiles
By default, for portability reasons, no files except those listed in the bin field will be marked as executable in the resulting package archive. The executableFiles field lets you declare additional files that must have the executable flag (+x) set even if they aren't directly accessible through the bin field.
{
"publishConfig": {
"executableFiles": [
"./dist/shim.js"
]
}
}
publishConfig.directory
You also can use the field publishConfig.directory to customize the published subdirectory relative to the current package.json.
It is expected to have a modified version of the current package in the specified directory (usually using third party build tools).
In this example the
"dist"folder must contain apackage.json
{
"name": "foo",
"version": "1.0.0",
"publishConfig": {
"directory": "dist"
}
}
publishConfig.linkDirectory
- Default: true
- Type: Boolean
When set to true, the project will be symlinked from the publishConfig.directory location during local development.
For example:
{
"name": "foo",
"version": "1.0.0",
"publishConfig": {
"directory": "dist",
"linkDirectory": true
}
}
pnpm.overrides
This field allows you to instruct pnpm to override any dependency in the dependency graph. This is useful for enforcing all your packages to use a single version of a dependency, backporting a fix, replacing a dependency with a fork, or removing an unused dependency.
Note that the overrides field can only be set at the root of the project.
An example of the "pnpm"."overrides" field:
{
"pnpm": {
"overrides": {
"foo": "^1.0.0",
"quux": "npm:@myorg/quux@^1.0.0",
"bar@^2.1.0": "3.0.0",
"qar@1>zoo": "2"
}
}
}
You may specify the package the overridden dependency belongs to by
separating the package selector from the dependency selector with a ">", for
example qar@1>zoo will only override the zoo dependency of qar@1, not for
any other dependencies.
An override may be defined as a reference to a direct dependency's spec.
This is achieved by prefixing the name of the dependency with a $:
{
"dependencies": {
"foo": "^1.0.0"
},
"pnpm": {
"overrides": {
"foo": "$foo"
}
}
}
The referenced package does not need to match the overridden one:
{
"dependencies": {
"foo": "^1.0.0"
},
"pnpm": {
"overrides": {
"bar": "$foo"
}
}
}
Added in: v9.12.0
If you find that your use of a certain package doesn’t require one of its dependencies, you may use - to remove it. For example, if package foo@1.0.0 requires a large package named bar for a function that you don’t use, removing it could reduce install time:
{
"pnpm": {
"overrides": {
"foo@1.0.0>bar": "-"
}
}
}
This feature is especially useful with optionalDependencies, where most optional packages can be safely skipped.
pnpm.packageExtensions
The packageExtensions fields offer a way to extend the existing package definitions with additional information. For example, if react-redux should have react-dom in its peerDependencies but it has not, it is possible to patch react-redux using packageExtensions:
{
"pnpm": {
"packageExtensions": {
"react-redux": {
"peerDependencies": {
"react-dom": "*"
}
}
}
}
}
The keys in packageExtensions are package names or package names and semver ranges, so it is possible to patch only some versions of a package:
{
"pnpm": {
"packageExtensions": {
"react-redux@1": {
"peerDependencies": {
"react-dom": "*"
}
}
}
}
}
The following fields may be extended using packageExtensions: dependencies, optionalDependencies, peerDependencies, and peerDependenciesMeta.
A bigger example:
{
"pnpm": {
"packageExtensions": {
"express@1": {
"optionalDependencies": {
"typescript": "2"
}
},
"fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin": {
"dependencies": {
"@babel/core": "1"
},
"peerDependencies": {
"eslint": ">= 6"
},
"peerDependenciesMeta": {
"eslint": {
"optional": true
}
}
}
}
}
}
Together with Yarn, we maintain a database of packageExtensions to patch broken packages in the ecosystem.
If you use packageExtensions, consider sending a PR upstream and contributing your extension to the @yarnpkg/extensions database.
pnpm.peerDependencyRules
pnpm.peerDependencyRules.ignoreMissing
pnpm will not print warnings about missing peer dependencies from this list.
For instance, with the following configuration, pnpm will not print warnings if a dependency needs react but react is not installed:
{
"pnpm": {
"peerDependencyRules": {
"ignoreMissing": ["react"]
}
}
}
Package name patterns may also be used:
{
"pnpm": {
"peerDependencyRules": {
"ignoreMissing": ["@babel/*", "@eslint/*"]
}
}
}
pnpm.peerDependencyRules.allowedVersions
Unmet peer dependency warnings will not be printed for peer dependencies of the specified range.
For instance, if you have some dependencies that need react@16 but you know that they work fine with react@17, then you may use the following configuration:
{
"pnpm": {
"peerDependencyRules": {
"allowedVersions": {
"react": "17"
}
}
}
}
This will tell pnpm that any dependency that has react in its peer dependencies should allow react v17 to be installed.
It is also possible to suppress the warnings only for peer dependencies of specific packages. For instance, with the following configuration react v17 will be only allowed when it is in the peer dependencies of the button v2 package or in the dependencies of any card package:
{
"pnpm": {
"peerDependencyRules": {
"allowedVersions": {
"button@2>react": "17",
"card>react": "17"
}
}
}
}
pnpm.peerDependencyRules.allowAny
allowAny is an array of package name patterns, any peer dependency matching the pattern will be resolved from any version, regardless of the range specified in peerDependencies. For instance:
{
"pnpm": {
"peerDependencyRules": {
"allowAny": ["@babel/*", "eslint"]
}
}
}
The above setting will mute any warnings about peer dependency version mismatches related to @babel/ packages or eslint.
pnpm.neverBuiltDependencies
This field allows to ignore the builds of specific dependencies. The "preinstall", "install", and "postinstall" scripts of the listed packages will not be executed during installation.
An example of the "pnpm"."neverBuiltDependencies" field:
{
"pnpm": {
"neverBuiltDependencies": ["fsevents", "level"]
}
}
pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies
A list of package names that are allowed to be executed during installation. If this field exists, only the listed packages will be able to run install scripts.
Example:
{
"pnpm": {
"onlyBuiltDependencies": ["fsevents"]
}
}
pnpm.onlyBuiltDependenciesFile
This configuration option allows users to specify a JSON file that lists the only packages permitted to run installation scripts during the pnpm install process. By using this, you can enhance security or ensure that only specific dependencies execute scripts during installation.
Example:
{
"dependencies": {
"@my-org/policy": "1.0.0"
},
"pnpm": {
"onlyBuiltDependenciesFile": "node_modules/@my-org/policy/onlyBuiltDependencies.json"
}
}
The JSON file itself should contain an array of package names:
[
"fsevents"
]
pnpm.allowedDeprecatedVersions
This setting allows muting deprecation warnings of specific packages.
Example:
{
"pnpm": {
"allowedDeprecatedVersions": {
"express": "1",
"request": "*"
}
}
}
With the above configuration pnpm will not print deprecation warnings about any version of request and about v1 of express.
pnpm.patchedDependencies
This field is added/updated automatically when you run pnpm patch-commit. It is a dictionary where the key should be the package name and exact version. The value should be a relative path to a patch file.
Example:
{
"pnpm": {
"patchedDependencies": {
"express@4.18.1": "patches/express@4.18.1.patch"
}
}
}
pnpm.allowNonAppliedPatches
When true, installation won't fail if some of the patches from the patchedDependencies field were not applied.
{
"pnpm": {
"patchedDependencies": {
"express@4.18.1": "patches/express@4.18.1.patch"
},
"allowNonAppliedPatches": true
}
pnpm.updateConfig
pnpm.updateConfig.ignoreDependencies
Sometimes you can't update a dependency. For instance, the latest version of the dependency started to use ESM but your project is not yet in ESM. Annoyingly, such a package will be always printed out by the pnpm outdated command and updated, when running pnpm update --latest. However, you may list packages that you don't want to upgrade in the ignoreDependencies field:
{
"pnpm": {
"updateConfig": {
"ignoreDependencies": ["load-json-file"]
}
}
}
Patterns are also supported, so you may ignore any packages from a scope: @babel/*.
pnpm.auditConfig
pnpm.auditConfig.ignoreCves
A list of CVE IDs that will be ignored by the pnpm audit command.
{
"pnpm": {
"auditConfig": {
"ignoreCves": [
"CVE-2022-36313"
]
}
}
}
pnpm.auditConfig.ignoreGhsas
Added in: v9.10.0
A list of GHSA Codes that will be ignored by the pnpm audit command.
{
"pnpm": {
"auditConfig": {
"ignoreGhsas": [
"GHSA-42xw-2xvc-qx8m",
"GHSA-4w2v-q235-vp99",
"GHSA-cph5-m8f7-6c5x",
"GHSA-vh95-rmgr-6w4m"
]
}
}
}
pnpm.requiredScripts
Scripts listed in this array will be required in each project of the workspace. Otherwise, pnpm -r run <script name> will fail.
{
"pnpm": {
"requiredScripts": ["build"]
}
}
pnpm.supportedArchitectures
You can specify architectures for which you'd like to install optional dependencies, even if they don't match the architecture of the system running the install.
For example, the following configuration tells to install optional dependencies for Windows x64:
{
"pnpm": {
"supportedArchitectures": {
"os": ["win32"],
"cpu": ["x64"]
}
}
}
Whereas this configuration will install optional dependencies for Windows, macOS, and the architecture of the system currently running the install. It includes artifacts for both x64 and arm64 CPUs:
{
"pnpm": {
"supportedArchitectures": {
"os": ["win32", "darwin", "current"],
"cpu": ["x64", "arm64"]
}
}
}
Additionally, supportedArchitectures also supports specifying the libc of the system.
pnpm.ignoredOptionalDependencies
If an optional dependency has its name included in this array, it will be skipped. For example:
{
"pnpm": {
"ignoredOptionalDependencies": ["fsevents", "@esbuild/*"]
}
}
pnpm.executionEnv.nodeVersion
Added in: v9.6.0
Specifies which exact Node.js version should be used for the project's runtime.
pnpm will automatically install the specified version of Node.js and use it for
running pnpm run commands or the pnpm node command.
For example:
{
"pnpm": {
"executionEnv": {
"nodeVersion": "16.16.0"
}
}
}
resolutions
Functionally identical to pnpm.overrides, this field is intended to make it easier to migrate from Yarn.
resolutions and pnpm.overrides get merged before package resolution (with pnpm.overrides taking precedence), which can be useful when you're migrating from Yarn and need to tweak a few packages just for pnpm.