Global Packages

Global packages are CLI tools and utilities installed system-wide with pnpm add -g. In pnpm v11, global package management was redesigned for better isolation and reliability.

Installing global packages#

pnpm add -g <pkg>

Por exemplo:

pnpm add -g typescript prettier eslint

Isolated installations#

Each globally installed package (or group of packages installed together) gets its own isolated installation directory with its own package.json, node_modules/, and lockfile. This prevents global packages from interfering with each other through peer dependency conflicts, hoisting changes, or version resolution shifts.

Isolated installations are stored at {pnpmHomeDir}/global/v11/{hash}/, where the hash is derived from the set of packages installed together.

For example, running the following two commands:

pnpm add -g typescript
pnpm add -g prettier

creates two separate isolated installations. typescript and prettier each get their own node_modules tree and cannot affect each other's dependency resolution.

Installing multiple space-separated packages in a single command also creates a separate isolated install for each one:

pnpm add -g eslint prettier

eslint and prettier each get their own node_modules tree and lockfile and can be removed independently. pnpm remove -g eslint leaves prettier untouched.

To bundle multiple packages into the same isolated install (so they share a node_modules tree and lockfile, resolve peer dependencies against each other, and are removed together), pass them as a comma-separated list:

pnpm add -g eslint,prettier

Here eslint and prettier form a single install group. Removing either with pnpm remove -g removes the whole group.

pnpm add -g <pkg> replaces every existing group that contains <pkg>. After pnpm add -g eslint, the eslint,prettier group is gone, and so are prettier and its bins. To keep the group, add it again as a whole (pnpm add -g eslint,prettier), or use pnpm update -g.

The two forms can be mixed. Por exemplo:

pnpm add -g eslint,prettier typescript

bundles eslint and prettier into one isolated install while installing typescript on its own.

Directory layout#

The contents of {pnpmHomeDir}/global/v11/ look like:

{pnpmHomeDir}/global/v11/
├── {hash-A}              → symlink → ./{hash-A-target}/
├── {hash-A-target}/      ← isolated install dir
│   ├── package.json      ← lists the packages installed together
│   ├── pnpm-lock.yaml    ← lockfile for this install group
│   └── node_modules/
│       ├── <pkg>/        ← top-level dep, symlinked into the global virtual store
│       └── .pnpm/        ← the group's install state
├── {hash-B}              → symlink → ./{hash-B-target}/
└── {hash-B-target}/      ← another isolated install dir

• The {hash} entries are symlinks; pnpm scans for them to enumerate active installs.
• The targets are real directories that act as ordinary pnpm projects. Each has its own package.json and lockfile.
• By default, the package contents live in the global virtual store at {storeDir}/links, outside this directory. Each install group's direct dependencies (the entries at the root of its node_modules/) are symlinks into that store, so install groups that depend on the same package share one copy. With virtualStoreType: project, each install group keeps its packages in its own node_modules/.pnpm.
• Bin shims live in {pnpmHomeDir}/bin/ and point through the appropriate install group's node_modules.

When a package is removed or its install group is replaced, the hash symlink is updated. Orphaned target directories older than five minutes are removed at the start of the next pnpm add -g, pnpm update -g, or pnpm self-update.

Listing global packages#

pnpm list -g
pnpm list -g --json        # machine-readable
pnpm list -g --parseable   # paths only

Because each install group has its own lockfile, listing across multiple groups can only reliably aggregate the top-level packages they were installed with. Transitive dependency trees from different groups can't be coherently merged. As a result:

• pnpm list -g (default --depth=0) always works and shows every globally installed package.
• pnpm list -g --depth=<n> (with n > 0) shows the full dependency tree only when:
  • there is just one global install group, or
  • a positional argument narrows the request to a single install group, e.g. pnpm list -g eslint --depth=1.

If --depth>0 is requested but the request can't be narrowed to a single install group, pnpm errors with ERR_PNPM_GLOBAL_LS_DEPTH_NOT_SUPPORTED.

Managing global packages#

Binaries location#

Globally installed binaries are stored in a bin subdirectory of PNPM_HOME (i.e., $PNPM_HOME/bin/). This keeps the PNPM_HOME directory clean. Internal directories like global/ and store/ don't pollute shell autocompletion when PNPM_HOME is on PATH.

After upgrading to pnpm v11, run pnpm setup to update your shell configuration so that $PNPM_HOME/bin is on your PATH.

You can check the current global bin directory with:

pnpm bin -g

Global virtual store#

Global installs use the global virtual store. Packages are stored at {storeDir}/links and shared across global installations. This avoids redundant fetches when multiple global packages depend on the same libraries.

Registering local packages globally#

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

cd ~/projects/my-tool
pnpm add -g .

This registers the package's bin entries so they can be invoked from anywhere. See pnpm link for more details.

Build script approval#

Global packages that have build scripts (e.g., postinstall) require approval. When you install a global package that needs to run build scripts, pnpm will prompt you to approve or deny the build interactively.

You can also pre-approve builds using the --allow-build flag:

pnpm add -g --allow-build=esbuild esbuild

Since v11.24.0, pnpm approve-builds --global lets you decide after the fact instead. It collects the packages awaiting approval from every install group, asks about them once, and writes one allowBuilds policy into the pnpm-workspace.yaml of the global packages directory, then rebuilds only the groups that contain something you approved:

pnpm approve-builds -g