[CHORE] Land or retire rewrite-lockfile.js for registry-lockfile warmups

[lukekarrys]

Context

Evert created an uncommitted rewrite-lockfile.js that pre-seeds package-lock.json with target-registry resolved URLs. The investigation found that timed registry-lockfile runs already fetch zero packuments when warmup succeeds, so the script would not change the timed measurement. Its remaining value is making warmup cheap and protecting against warmup timeout/failure.

The script is not present in this repository and there is no branch or PR to recover from.

Decision needed

Recover/recreate and land the helper, or explicitly retire the idea in favor of the lockfile-warmup validation/timeout fix. Either outcome is acceptable, but the current untracked dependency should be resolved.

Acceptance criteria

• Obtain the original script or reproduce its intended transformation.
• Verify that rewritten lockfiles preserve URLs, integrity, and install correctness for each target registry.
• Compare warmup behavior with and without the rewrite on representative fixtures.
• Decide to land or retire it, with rationale recorded.
• If landed, add tests and integrate it without changing what the timed lockfile row measures.

Source

Performance investigation: item 11 — uncommitted rewrite-lockfile.js