Package Managers
Vercel will automatically detect the package manager used in your project and install the dependencies when you create a deployment. It does this by looking at the lock file in your project and inferring the correct package manager to use.
If you are using Corepack, Vercel will use the package manager specified in the package.json file's packageManager field instead.
The following table lists the package managers supported by Vercel, with their install commands and versions:
| Package Manager | Lock File | Install Command | Supported Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yarn | yarn.lock | yarn install | 1, 2, 3 |
| npm | package-lock.json | npm install | 8, 9, 10 |
| pnpm | pnpm-lock.yaml | pnpm install | 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 |
| Bun 1 | bun.lockb or bun.lock | bun install | 1 |
| Vlt Beta | vlt-lock.json | vlt install | 0.x |
While Vercel automatically selects the package manager based on the lock file present in your project, the specific version of that package manager is determined by the version information in the lock file or associated configuration files.
The npm and pnpm package managers create a lockfileVersion property when they generate a lock file. This property specifies the lock file's format version, ensuring proper processing and compatibility. For example, a pnpm-lock.yaml file with lockfileVersion: 9.0 will be interpreted by pnpm 9, while a pnpm-lock.yaml file with lockfileVersion: 5.4 will be interpreted by pnpm 7.
| Package Manager | Condition | Install Command | Version Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| pnpm | pnpm-lock.yaml: present | pnpm install | Varies |
lockfileVersion: 9.0 | - | pnpm 9 or 10* | |
lockfileVersion: 7.0 | - | pnpm 9 | |
lockfileVersion: 6.0/6.1 | - | pnpm 8 | |
lockfileVersion: 5.3/5.4 | - | pnpm 7 | |
| Otherwise | - | pnpm 6 | |
| npm | package-lock.json: present | npm install | Varies |
lockfileVersion: 2 | - | npm 8 | |
| Node 20 | - | npm 10 | |
| Node 22 | - | npm 10 | |
| Bun | bun.lockb: present | bun install | Bun <1.2 |
bun.lock: present | bun install --save-text-lockfile | Bun 1 | |
bun.lock: present | bun install | Bun >=1.2 | |
| Yarn | yarn.lock: present | yarn install | Yarn 1 |
| Vlt | vlt-lock.json: present | vlt install | Vlt 0.x |
pnpm-lock.yaml version 9.0 can be generated by pnpm 9 or 10. Newer projects
will prefer 10, while older prefer 9. Check build
logs to see which version is used for your project.
When no lock file exists, Vercel uses npm by default. Npm's default version aligns with the Node.js version as described in the table above. Defaults can be overridden using installCommand or Corepack for specific package manager versions.
You can manually specify a package manager to use on a per-project, or per-deployment basis.
To specify a package manager for all deployments in your project, use the Override setting in your project's Build & Development Settings:
- Navigate to your dashboard and select your project
- Open Settings in the sidebar and select General
- Enable the Override toggle in the Build & Development Settings section and add your install command. Once you save, it will be applied on your next deployment
When using an override install command like
pnpm install, Vercel will use the oldest version of
the specified package manager available in the build container. For example,
if you specify pnpm install as your override install
command, Vercel will use pnpm 6.
To specify a package manager for a deployment, use the installCommand property in your projects vercel.json.
{
"$schema": "https://openapi.vercel.sh/vercel.json",
"installCommand": "pnpm install"
}Was this helpful?