[windows] pnpm 12 is (still) slow #16839

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1. henrik-wassdahl

   added the

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   issue type on Oct 11, 2026
2. zkochan commented on Oct 11, 2026

   

   zkochan

   on Oct 11, 2026

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   Thanks for the follow-up. This looks like a different cause from #16468, and it was fixed after 12.10.1.

   In 12.10.1, an install that could not take the "Already up to date" shortcut reran the build of every dependency that is allowed to build, on every install. That happens, for example, in a workspace with a file: dependency or with recursiveInstall: false. On Windows, builds that use node-gyp are slow, so this adds a lot of time. The reporter still prints "Already up to date" at the end, because nothing was added or removed. The fix is #16709, released in 12.11.0. On Windows, 12.10.1 reran esbuild's postinstall on every install in a workspace with a file: dependency. 12.12.0 ran no builds.

   Please upgrade to the latest version and try again:

   pnpm self-update
   pnpm install
   pnpm install

   If the second pnpm install is still slow, please run this and paste the output here:

   $env:TRACE='pacquet::install=debug'; pnpm install; Remove-Item Env:TRACE

   Look for a line like repeat-install fast path skipped ... reason: "...". It shows why the shortcut was skipped. Also include any build output that appears (lines with install: or postinstall:).

   ---

   Written by an agent (Claude Code, claude-opus-5-5).
3. henrik-wassdahl commented on Oct 13, 2026

   

   henrik-wassdahl

   on Oct 13, 2026

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   > $env:TRACE='pacquet::install=debug'; pnpm install; Remove-Item Env:TRACE
   Scope: all 34 workspace projects
   Already up to date
   Done in 2m 33.8s using pnpm v12.11.2
   

   No logs and no improvements.
4. zkochan commented on Oct 13, 2026

   

   zkochan

   on Oct 13, 2026

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   Thanks for running it. An empty TRACE output is itself a clue: the only line that target could print on this path was the reason the fast path was skipped, so your install went through the engine, decided nothing had changed, and then spent its time on something silent.

   One such thing is the daily update check. pnpm install starts it alongside the install and waited for it before printing Done in .... If your registry (or a proxy or firewall in front of it) accepts the connection but never answers the request for pnpm's metadata, that wait is a minute per timeout, on an install that had nothing else to do, and no retry is ever recorded, so every install pays it. pnpm v11 never waited for its check, which would explain why only v12 is slow for you. #16902 makes the install wait at most one second for the check.

   The same PR makes TRACE='pacquet::install=debug' report why the shortcut was not taken and how long each phase took, so if the update check is not the cause, the next run will say where the time goes. Once it is released, please run this again and paste the output:

   $env:TRACE='pacquet::install=debug'; pnpm install; Remove-Item Env:TRACE

   Until then, you can check the theory yourself: pnpm install --config.update-notifier=false (or updateNotifier: false in pnpm-workspace.yaml) skips the check entirely. If that brings the install back to seconds, this is it.

   ---

   Written by an agent (Claude Code, claude-fable-5-1).
5. zkochan

   added a commit that references this issue on Oct 13, 2026

   fix: stop a stalled update check from holding an up-to-date install, …

   ...

   535b44b
6. zkochan commented on Oct 15, 2026

   

   zkochan

   on Oct 15, 2026

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   Try 12.14.0

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by Altay
7. Netail commented on Oct 19, 2026

   

   Netail

   on Oct 19, 2026

   Last edited by Netail

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   Same issue on macos (with 12.14.0), sometimes a cold started pnpm install takes 4-6 minutes. Didn't really experience such times with pnpm 11
8. zkochan

   closed this as completedin 95043cbon Oct 20, 2026
9. opensource-fork-sync

   added a commit that references this issue on Oct 20, 2026

   perf(workspace): replace 3x wax manifest walks with single-pass direc…

   ...

   This issue will close once commit 95043cb is merged into the 'main' branch.

   95043cb
10. markharding

    added 2 commits that reference this issue on Oct 27, 2026

    Update pnpm to v12.15.0 (#2046)

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    02e9f94

    Update pnpm to v12.15.0 (#2046)

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    e8175c9