Set up a pnpm workspaces monorepo with pnpm-workspace.yaml and the workspace: protocol

domain: pnpm.io · 6 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗

Documented steps

  1. Create a pnpm-workspace.yaml file in the repo root — every pnpm workspace requires one — and declare package locations, e.g. packages: ['packages/*', 'apps/*'].
  2. Reference sibling packages in each package.json with the workspace: protocol: "foo": "workspace:*" (any local version), or workspace:^ / workspace:~ to pin the published range style. Bare "workspace:" is equivalent to workspace:*.
  3. Run pnpm install from the root; packages matching workspace: ranges are always resolved locally (never from the registry), and install fails if no local match exists — which is exactly the safety you want in a monorepo.
  4. Alias a workspace package under a different name when needed: "bar": "workspace:foo@*" makes local package foo available as bar.
  5. On pnpm publish/pack, workspace: specifiers are rewritten to real versions automatically: workspace:* -> 1.5.0, workspace:~ -> ~1.5.0, workspace:^ -> ^1.5.0.
  6. Docs: https://pnpm.io/workspaces and https://pnpm.io/pnpm-workspace_yaml

Known gotchas

Related routes

Publish workspace packages to a registry with pnpm publish -r (workspace: and catalog: version replacement)
pnpm.io · 6 steps · unrated
Add a local workspace package as a dependency of another workspace in a monorepo
docs.npmjs.com · 5 steps · unrated
Share dependency versions across a pnpm monorepo with catalogs and the catalog: protocol
pnpm.io · 6 steps · unrated

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