Vercel + pnpm troubleshooting

Fix pnpm Lockfile Build Failed on Vercel

Vercel uses the committed lockfile to choose the package manager. A stale pnpm-lock.yaml can fail with frozen lockfile errors.

Common symptoms

  • Build log mentions ERR_PNPM_OUTDATED_LOCKFILE.
  • Install works locally but fails on Vercel.
  • Repo contains multiple lockfiles.

What to check first

Platform: Vercel + pnpm
Error: pnpm lockfile error

Vercel uses the committed lockfile to choose the package manager. A stale pnpm-lock.yaml can fail with frozen lockfile errors.

Step-by-step fix

  1. Run pnpm install locally and commit the updated pnpm-lock.yaml.
  2. Remove unused package-lock.json or yarn.lock if pnpm is intended.
  3. Set packageManager in package.json for clarity.
  4. Redeploy after Vercel detects pnpm.
"packageManager": "pnpm@9.0.0"

pnpm install

Common mistake to avoid

Do not edit pnpm-lock.yaml by hand.

Still stuck?

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