Last pnpm version that worked

10.33.2

pnpm version

11.0.3, 11.0.4, 11.0.5

Code to reproduce the issue

On Windows 11:

When using version 11.0.3
pnpm -v --> 11.0.3

# Start with pnpm 11.0.3 or 11.0.5 installed via .tools layout
pnpm self-update 11.0.4

or

pnpm self-update 11.0.5

Expected behavior

• pnpm should install the target version into:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\.tools\pnpm\<version>

• pnpm should update the bootstrap loader:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\pnpm
%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\pnpm.cmd

so that pnpm --version reflects the newly installed version.

This is the behavior in pnpm 10.33.2.

Actual behavior

• pnpm installs the new version into:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\global\v11\<version>

now pnpm installed in 2 places, the version before updating is in .tools (lines 1-2), the 2nd is in global/v11 (lines 3-4)

where.exe pnpm                                                                                                                     ─╯
C:\Users\Hadar\AppData\Local\pnpm\pnpm
C:\Users\Hadar\AppData\Local\pnpm\pnpm.CMD
C:\Users\Hadar\AppData\Local\pnpm\bin\pnpm
C:\Users\Hadar\AppData\Local\pnpm\bin\pnpm.CMD

• The bootstrap loader in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\pnpm
%LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\pnpm.cmd

still points to the old .tools version (e.g. 11.0.3).

• Running pnpm --version continues to show the old version.

• pnpm does not update the loader or switch to the new version.

• The only way to update correctly is to manually run the 10.33.2 bootstrap:

node %LOCALAPPDATA%\pnpm\.tools\pnpm\10.33.2\node_modules\pnpm\bin\pnpm.cjs self-update 11.0.5

which installs into .tools and updates the loader correctly.

Additional information

• This regression affects all pnpm 11.x versions when upgrading from .tools layout.
• pnpm 11.x partially migrated to the new global/v11 layout, but the bootstrap loader update logic was not migrated.
• As a result, pnpm installs the new version but never switches to it.

Node.js version

24.15.0

Operating System

Windows