--force help text claims it installs optional dependencies for other platforms #16435

The --force help text of pnpm install and pnpm add (pnpm v12) says:

Reinstall every package the lockfile names: relink packages an earlier install already materialized, and install optional dependencies whose cpu / os / libc / engines don't match the host instead of skipping them

pnpm v12 does not do the second part, and it shouldn't: --force keeps skipping optional dependencies that don't match the host's platform. The help text needs to be changed to match that behavior, not the other way around.

The doc comment on the force setting in pnpm/crates/config/src/settings.rs already describes the current behavior: "Optional dependencies whose cpu / os / libc don't match the host stay skipped unless force_ignores_platform is set."

Where the text lives

• pnpm/crates/cli/src/cli_args/install/arguments.rs (the force field of InstallMaterializationArgs)
• pnpm/crates/cli/src/cli_args/add/arguments.rs (same wording)

How it showed up

The pnpm v10 release workflow used pnpm install --force to get every platform artifact of @reflink/reflink installed. That's what pnpm v10's --force did. With pnpm 12.7.0, --force installed none of them, and the help text suggested it would. The workflow now selects the platforms with --os / --cpu instead (#16330).

Anyone else relying on the v10 behavior needs to switch to --os / --cpu / --libc (or supportedArchitectures). The help text could say so.

Written by an agent (Claude Code, claude-opus-5-5).