Summary & Key Takeaways ​

• packageImportMethod: auto on Linux now attempts hardlinks before cloning, improving install times.
• This change can roughly halve the time spent materializing node_modules from a warm store on btrfs.
• pnpm approve-builds now correctly removes deprecated build settings from pnpm-workspace.yaml.
• pnpm audit no longer reports patched versions that were never published or are deprecated.
• The audit fix command is improved to prevent adding overrides for non-existent patches.

Our Commentary ​

It's always good to see package managers squeezing out more performance. That hardlink optimization for Linux users is a solid win. The pnpm audit improvements are also a welcome change. Dealing with phantom patches or deprecated versions in audit reports is just noise. This RC feels like a thoughtful refinement of the pnpm experience. We appreciate the attention to detail here.