ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED when other playwright versions are installed globally (pnpm)

[raksitnongbua]

Description

When installing @playwright/cli globally via pnpm alongside other packages that depend on playwright-core (e.g. @playwright/test, @vercel/next-browser), the CLI fails immediately:

```
Error [ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED]: Package subpath './lib/tools/cli-client/program'
is not defined by "exports" in .../pnpm/node_modules/playwright-core/package.json
at exportsNotFound (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:313:10)
at packageExportsResolve (node:internal/modules/esm/resolve:661:9)
at resolveExports (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:679:36)
...
```

Root Cause

@playwright/cli depends on playwright-core@1.60.0-alpha-* transitively (via playwright), but does not declare it as a direct dependency. pnpm deduplicates playwright-core to the highest compatible version already in the global store — in my case 1.58.2 from @playwright/test@1.59.1. That version does not export ./lib/tools/cli-client/program, causing the crash.

This does not happen with npm because npm installs each package with its own isolated node_modules tree.

Environment

• Node: v24.13.0
• pnpm: 10.32.1
• @playwright/cli: 0.1.4
• Conflicting globals: @playwright/test@1.59.1, @vercel/next-browser@0.1.8

Workaround

Manually symlink the correct playwright-core version into @playwright/cli's node_modules:

```bash
ln -s
~/.local/share/pnpm/global/5/.pnpm/playwright-core@1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000/node_modules/playwright-core
~/.local/share/pnpm/global/5/.pnpm/@playwright+cli@0.1.4/node_modules/playwright-core
```

(Paths vary by OS — adjust accordingly.)

Suggested Fix

Add playwright-core as a direct dependency in package.json so pnpm cannot hoist a mismatched version:

```json
"dependencies": {
"minimist": "^1.2.5",
"playwright": "1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000",
"playwright-core": "1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000"
}
```

[raksitnongbua]

Deep Dive: Why This Happens & How to Fix It

Why pnpm causes this (but npm doesn't)

pnpm uses a content-addressable store with symlinked node_modules. When you install multiple packages globally that share a dependency (e.g. playwright-core), pnpm deduplicates — it hoists the highest compatible version to a shared .pnpm/node_modules/ folder.

In this case:

• @playwright/test@1.59.1 pulls in playwright-core@1.59.1
• @playwright/cli@0.1.4 pulls in playwright-core@1.60.0-alpha-* (transitively via playwright)
• pnpm hoists playwright-core@1.58.2 (or 1.59.1) to the shared store
• When playwright-cli.js runs require('playwright-core/lib/tools/cli-client/program'), Node resolves playwright-core from the shared store — which doesn't export that path

npm does not hit this because it installs a full isolated node_modules tree per package.

---

Workaround (users)

Step 1 — Find your pnpm global path:

pnpm root -g
# e.g. /Users/you/Library/pnpm/global/5/node_modules

Step 2 — Find the alpha playwright-core version in the pnpm store:

ls $(pnpm root -g)/../.pnpm/ | grep playwright-core
# look for playwright-core@1.60.0-alpha-*

Step 3 — Symlink it directly into @playwright/cli's node_modules:

ln -s \
  $(pnpm root -g)/../.pnpm/playwright-core@<ALPHA_VERSION>/node_modules/playwright-core \
  $(pnpm root -g)/../.pnpm/@playwright+cli@<CLI_VERSION>/node_modules/playwright-core

Step 4 — Verify:

playwright-cli --help

⚠️ This symlink is lost every time you run pnpm add -g. You'll need to redo step 3 after any global install.

---

Long-term fix (for maintainers)

Add playwright-core as a direct dependency in package.json. This tells pnpm it must resolve playwright-core to this exact version for this package — it cannot be substituted by deduplication.

  "dependencies": {
    "minimist": "^1.2.5",
-   "playwright": "1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000"
+   "playwright": "1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000",
+   "playwright-core": "1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000"
  }

Happy to open a PR if helpful.

[yury-s]

pnpm deduplicates playwright-core to the highest compatible version already in the global store

This sounds wrong as it'd break 1.60.0-alpha-1775061447000, why does it not happen?