fix(arborist): drop self-link materialization for undeclared workspaces#9418
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…es (#9399) In continuation of our exploration of using `install-strategy=linked` in the [Gutenberg monorepo](WordPress/gutenberg#75814), which powers the WordPress Block Editor. ## Summary In `install-strategy=linked`, every workspace not listed in the root `package.json`'s deps was getting a self-symlink inside its own `node_modules/` (e.g. `packages/test/node_modules/@namespace/test -> ..`). The workspace did not declare itself as a dependency; the link was a side effect of #9076 parking the workspace `IsolatedLink` off-root. pnpm does not create such a self-link — packages that need to self-resolve by name are expected to use Node's [`exports`-based self-referencing](https://nodejs.org/api/packages.html#self-referencing-a-package-using-its-name). ## Fix Keep the workspace `IsolatedLink` in the tree (so `--workspace` filters resolve undeclared workspaces and install scripts still run via the diff's `unchanged`-link path), but mark it `isUndeclaredWorkspaceLink = true` and treat it as tree-only: - `#extractOrLink` returns early for these links, so no symlink is materialized on disk. - `#cleanOrphanedStoreEntries` excludes them from the valid set, so any stale self-link from an older npm version is swept on the next install. - The link is no longer added to `workspace.children`. The only behavior change is that `require('<self-name>')` from inside an undeclared workspace without an `exports` field no longer resolves. This matches pnpm and the strict-isolation intent of #9076. Cross-workspace dep links, declared-workspace root symlinks, and workspace `postinstall` execution are unaffected. ## References Fixes #9398 Related to #9076 (cherry picked from commit dac7ff6)
owlstronaut
approved these changes
May 27, 2026
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Backport of #9399 to
release/v11.