.pnpmfile.cjs

pnpm lets you hook directly into the installation process via special functions (hooks). Hooks can be declared in a file called .pnpmfile.cjs.

By default, .pnpmfile.cjs should be located in the same directory as the lockfile. For instance, in a workspace with a shared lockfile, .pnpmfile.cjs should be in the root of the monorepo.

Hooks

TL;DR

Hook Function	Process	Uses
hooks.readPackage(pkg, context): pkg	Called after pnpm parses the dependency's package manifest	Allows you to mutate a dependency's package.json
hooks.afterAllResolved(lockfile, context): lockfile	Called after the dependencies have been resolved.	Allows you to mutate the lockfile.

hooks.readPackage(pkg, context): pkg | Promise<pkg>

Allows you to mutate a dependency's package.json after parsing and prior to resolution. These mutations are not saved to the filesystem, however, they will affect what gets resolved in the lockfile and therefore what gets installed.

Note that you will need to delete the pnpm-lock.yaml if you have already resolved the dependency you want to modify.

tip

If you need changes to package.json saved to the filesystem, you need to use the pnpm patch command and patch the package.json file. This might be useful if you want to remove the bin field of a dependency for instance.

Arguments

• pkg - The manifest of the package. Either the response from the registry or the package.json content.
• context - Context object for the step. Method #log(msg) allows you to use a debug log for the step.

Usage

Example .pnpmfile.cjs (changes the dependencies of a dependency):

function readPackage(pkg, context) {
  // Override the manifest of foo@1.x after downloading it from the registry
  if (pkg.name === 'foo' && pkg.version.startsWith('1.')) {
    // Replace bar@x.x.x with bar@2.0.0
    pkg.dependencies = {
      ...pkg.dependencies,
      bar: '^2.0.0'
    }
    context.log('bar@1 => bar@2 in dependencies of foo')
  }
  
  // This will change any packages using baz@x.x.x to use baz@1.2.3
  if (pkg.dependencies.baz) {
    pkg.dependencies.baz = '1.2.3';
  }
  
  return pkg
}

module.exports = {
  hooks: {
    readPackage
  }
}

Known limitations

Removing the scripts field from a dependency's manifest via readPackage will not prevent pnpm from building the dependency. When building a dependency, pnpm reads the package.json of the package from the package's archive, which is not affected by the hook. In order to ignore a package's build, use the neverBuiltDependencies field.

hooks.updateConfig(config): config | Promise<config>

Added in: v10.8.0

Allows you to modify the configuration settings used by pnpm. This hook is most useful when paired with configDependencies, allowing you to share and reuse settings across different Git repositories.

For example, @pnpm/better-defaults uses the updateConfig hook to apply a curated set of recommended settings.

Usage example

.pnpmfile.cjs

module.exports = {
  hooks: {
    updateConfig (config) {
      return Object.assign(config, {
        enablePrePostScripts: false,
        optimisticRepeatInstall: true,
        resolutionMode: 'lowest-direct',
        verifyDepsBeforeRun: 'install',
      })
    }
  }
}

hooks.afterAllResolved(lockfile, context): lockfile | Promise<lockfile>

Allows you to mutate the lockfile output before it is serialized.

Arguments

• lockfile - The lockfile resolutions object that is serialized to pnpm-lock.yaml.
• context - Context object for the step. Method #log(msg) allows you to use a debug log for the step.

Usage example

.pnpmfile.cjs

function afterAllResolved(lockfile, context) {
  // ...
  return lockfile
}

module.exports = {
  hooks: {
    afterAllResolved
  }
}

Known Limitations

There are none - anything that can be done with the lockfile can be modified via this function, and you can even extend the lockfile's functionality.

hooks.preResolution(options): Promise<void>

This hook is executed after reading and parsing the lockfiles of the project, but before resolving dependencies. It allows modifications to the lockfile objects.

Arguments

• options.existsCurrentLockfile - A boolean that is true if the lockfile at node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml exists.
• options.currentLockfile - The lockfile object from node_modules/.pnpm/lock.yaml.
• options.existsNonEmptyWantedLockfile - A boolean that is true if the lockfile at pnpm-lock.yaml exists.
• options.wantedLockfile - The lockfile object from pnpm-lock.yaml.
• options.lockfileDir - The directory where the wanted lockfile is found.
• options.storeDir - The location of the store directory.
• options.registries - A map of scopes to registry URLs.

hooks.importPackage(destinationDir, options): Promise<string | undefined>

This hook allows to change how packages are written to node_modules. The return value is optional and states what method was used for importing the dependency, e.g.: clone, hardlink.

Arguments

• destinationDir - The destination directory where the package should be written.
• options.disableRelinkLocalDirDeps
• options.filesMap
• options.force
• options.resolvedFrom
• options.keepModulesDir

hooks.fetchers

This hook allows to override the fetchers that are used for different types of dependencies. It is an object that may have the following fields:

• localTarball
• remoteTarball
• gitHostedTarball
• directory
• git

Related Configuration

ignore-pnpmfile

• Default: false
• Type: Boolean

.pnpmfile.cjs will be ignored. Useful together with --ignore-scripts when you want to make sure that no script gets executed during install.

pnpmfile

• Default: .pnpmfile.cjs
• Type: path
• Example: .pnpm/.pnpmfile.cjs

The location of the local pnpmfile.

global-pnpmfile

• Default: null
• Type: path
• Example: ~/.pnpm/global_pnpmfile.cjs

The location of a global pnpmfile. A global pnpmfile is used by all projects during installation.

note

It is recommended to use local pnpmfiles. Only use a global pnpmfile if you use pnpm on projects that don't use pnpm as the primary package manager.