Corepack not adding `packageManager` field to `package.json`

[ProchaLu]

When using Homebrew to install Node.js, enabling Corepack, and then using Corepack to manage pnpm, Corepack does not add a packageManager field to my package.json. This field should be automatically added, but it is missing, requiring me to add it manually.

Setting the COREPACK_ENABLE_AUTO_PIN=1 in zshrc does not resolve the issue. Even after reinstalling Corepack and Node.js, the problem still exists.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. brew install node@20
2. brew link --overwrite node@20
3. corepack enable
4. corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
5. pnpm setup
6. mkdir test
7. cd test
8. pnpm init
9. corepack use pnpm@latest or pnpm install

Expected Behavior

Corepack should automatically add the packageManager field to package.json when using pnpm.

Actual Behavior

The packageManager field is not added, and setting COREPACK_ENABLE_AUTO_PIN=1 in ~/.zshrc does not fix the issue. Reinstalling Corepack and Node.js does not resolve the problem either.

Additional Information

Node.js v20.17.0
Corepack 0.29.3
pnpm 9.10.0

How can I set the environment variable to enable this functionality, and are there any other steps to resolve this issue?

[aduh95]

I suspect the pnpm you use is not provided by Corepack. What does command -v pnpm output on your machine?

[ProchaLu]

I suspect the pnpm you use is not provided by Corepack. What does command -v pnpm output on your machine?

@aduh95 The output is

command -v pnpm
/opt/homebrew/opt/node@20/bin/pnpm

[aduh95]

Can you show the output of those commands if you set DEBUG=corepack in your env?

[ProchaLu]

➜  echo 'export DEBUG=corepack' >> ~/.zshrc
➜  source ~/.zshrc
➜  command -v pnpm
/opt/homebrew/opt/node@20/bin/pnpm
➜  node -v
v20.17.0
➜  corepack -v
0.29.3
➜  pnpm -v
  corepack LastKnownGood file would be located at /Users/lukas/.cache/node/corepack/lastKnownGood.json +0ms
  corepack Search for default version: Found pnpm@9.10.0 in LastKnownGood file +2ms
  corepack Checking /Users/lukas/Documents/projects/test/package.json +0ms
  corepack Checking /Users/lukas/Documents/projects/package.json +0ms
  corepack Checking /Users/lukas/Documents/package.json +0ms
  corepack Checking /Users/lukas/package.json +1ms
  corepack Using pnpm@9.10.0+sha512.73a29afa36a0d092ece5271de5177ecbf8318d454ecd701343131b8ebc0c1a91c487da46ab77c8e596d6acf1461e3594ced4becedf8921b074fbd8653ed7051c as defined in project manifest /Users/lukas/package.json +0ms
  corepack Reusing pnpm@9.10.0 found in /Users/lukas/.cache/node/corepack/v1/pnpm/9.10.0 +3ms
9.10.0

[aduh95]

Well it looks like you have a packge.json in your $HOME, and I suppose that's where the packageManager field is defined. Consider removing that file, it seems like a bad idea to have that.

[ProchaLu]

Well it looks like you have a packge.json in your $HOME, and I suppose that's where the packageManager field is defined. Consider removing that file, it seems like a bad idea to have that.

@aduh95 Thx! Removing the $HOME package.json solved the issue!

[ProchaLu]

@aduh95, thx for your time, but there is a question if the current directory has a package.json, wouldn't a user expect that Corepack would change that one, and not one way further up in the tree?

[arcanis]

wouldn't a user expect that Corepack would change that one, and not one way further up in the tree?

No, since in a workspace setup the package.json that defines the package manager is located at the top of the project tree.

[aduh95]

In the case of a monorepo, you wouldn't want to define a packageManager per package, but rather at the project root.

[bojidar-bg]

Just ran into this myself with a package.json in $HOME; would have appreciated if corepack didn't cross git repository boundaries when looking for the root package.json.