How to Enable pnpm

pnpm is an efficient package management tool. Compared to traditional npm and yarn, pnpm manages dependencies through hard links and symlinks, significantly reducing disk space usage and improving installation speed. Using pnpm can help developers manage project dependencies faster and enhance development efficiency.

Node.js installed via ServBay includes pnpm by default. If you find that pnpm is not enabled, you can enable it using the following steps.

Enable pnpm

1. Open the terminal and enter the following command to enable pnpm:

   corepack enable pnpm

   If everything is correct, there will be no output from the above command.

2. To confirm that pnpm has been successfully enabled, enter the following command to check the version number:

   pnpm -v

   Example output:

   9.1.0

Update pnpm

If you see the following prompt when you enter pnpm, it means an updated version of pnpm needs to be installed. Enter Y to download and install:

$ pnpm -v
! Corepack is about to download https://registry.npmjs.org/pnpm/-/pnpm-9.0.6.tgz
? Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

9.0.6

Confirm the version number again:

$ pnpm -v
9.0.6

Specify a Version of pnpm to Run

If you need to specify a version of pnpm to run, you can run it using the pnpm-<version> format. For example:

pnpm-18 -v

Example output:

9.0.6

Benefits of Using pnpm

The main advantage of pnpm lies in its efficient dependency management method, which significantly reduces disk space usage and improves installation speed through hard links and symlinks. Here are some practical examples of using pnpm:

Install Dependencies

Install project dependencies using pnpm:

pnpm install

This will install all dependencies listed in the package.json file and create hard links and symlinks to optimize disk usage.

Add Dependency

Add a new dependency package:

pnpm add lodash

This will install the lodash package and update the package.json file.

Remove Dependency

Remove a dependency package:

pnpm remove lodash

This will remove the lodash package from the project and update the package.json file.

By using pnpm, developers can enjoy faster dependency installation and reduced disk space usage, thereby enhancing overall development efficiency.