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>

Par exemple:

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 packages in a single command groups them into one isolated install:

pnpm add -g eslint prettier

eslint and prettier share a node_modules tree and lockfile, so peer dependencies are resolved against each other. Removing either with pnpm remove -g removes the entire group.

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/
├── {hash-B}              → symlink → ./{hash-B-target}/
├── {hash-B-target}/      ← another isolated install dir
└── store/                ← shared global virtual store
    └── ...

• 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.
• The shared store/ directory holds the global virtual store. Each install group's direct dependencies — the entries at the root of its node_modules/ — are symlinks into that store, so the actual package contents are shared rather than copied per group.
• 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 and orphaned target directories are eventually cleaned up by pnpm store prune.

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

Command	Description
pnpm add -g <pkg>	Install a package globally
pnpm remove -g <pkg>	Remove a globally installed package (removes the entire installation group)
pnpm update -g [pkg]	Update global packages (re-installs into new isolated directories)
pnpm list -g	List all globally installed packages

note

pnpm install -g (without arguments) is not supported. Use pnpm add -g <pkg> to install specific 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