Docs on Corepack need to be expanded

[PaulRBerg]

Yarn's docs on Corepack should be expanded to explain:

• Whether Corepack is required for Yarn Berry, or it's just a nice way of installing the CLI
• What will Yarn do about the fact that Node.js is removing support for Corepack
• What happens when Corepack is not used, i.e., there's a Yarn executable under .yarn/releases, etc.
• What happens when Corepack is used, i.e., there's no Yarn executable and Corepack handles that

URL: https://yarnpkg.com/corepack

Related: #5949

[arcanis]

What will Yarn do about the fact that Node.js is removing support for Corepack

They are not, a vote is in progress as of last week. The thread you link is a non-binding circlejerk.

If Node.js decides to neuter Corepack in any way (which we'll see depending on the results of the vote) we'll take notice and act accordingly.

[BurningEnlightenment]

The TSC voted to remove corepack in a future (25+) release:

Winning candidate: Phase out later: stop distributing Corepack (i.e. the distribution will no longer contain a corepack executable) on future (i.e. 25+) release lines of Node.js – existing release lines as well as the very next (i.e. 24.x) will keep it as experimental.

nodejs/TSC#1697 (comment)

[arcanis]

I updated the getting started page, help welcome to update other references in the doc.

What will Yarn do about the fact that nodejs/package-maintenance#606

As for long-term plans it's a little soon to be certain what the alternative to Corepack will be, but I believe likely we'll keep the versioning mechanism while using a different implementation than Corepack. For the moment I'm focusing on the next two Yarn majors, and once this job is done we'll have more clarity as to what we need.

[MikeMcC399]

The vote does not change much. The Node.js TSC decided to continue distributing Corepack with the next release of Node.js which is 24.x and has end-of-life in April 2028. Users who start in Oct 2025 with Node.js 25.x when it's released would install Corepack with npm, unless Corepack adds a different mechanism to install it in the meantime. Many pnpm users are already installing Corepack with npm due to a package signing issue that occurred in Jan 2025, and which required updating independently of the Node.js version, so there is no hard reliance on Corepack being distributed with Node.js.

[MikeMcC399]

For me the barrier to using Corepack in production is that it is marked as experimental. I don't care though if I need to install it manually instead of having it delivered together with Node.js.

I would need to see it declared as stable with an on-going support commitment and endorsement for use in production.

https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/corepack.html has it in the category Experimental
"Non-backward compatible changes or removal may occur in any future release. Use of the feature is not recommended in production environments."

[dcorking]

@MikeMcC399 do you recommend installing yarn directly via npm in a production script? (instead of via corepack)

npm install --global @yarnpkg/cli@4.9.1

[MikeMcC399]

@dcorking

@MikeMcC399 do you recommend installing yarn directly via npm in a production script? (instead of via corepack)

npm install --global @yarnpkg/cli@4.9.1

• There is a separate discussion in [Feature] Alternative to Node.js experimental corepack to manage package manager version  #6443 about running Yarn (Modern) without Corepack. I have never done this, so I can't advise. It would need some statement and support from the Yarn team, like from @arcanis to be recommended.