fix(arborist): surface undeclared workspaces under the linked strategy (backport release/v11)#9669
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owlstronaut merged 1 commit intoJun 26, 2026
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npm#9657) In continuation of our exploration of using `install-strategy=linked` in the [Gutenberg monorepo](WordPress/gutenberg#75814), which powers the WordPress Block Editor. Under `install-strategy=linked`, a declared workspace that the root does not depend on is installed on disk but was invisible to `npm ls --all`, `npm ls --workspaces`, and `npm query ':root > *'`, all of which reported an empty tree. The hoisted strategy lists every workspace. Undeclared workspaces are intentionally not symlinked into the root `node_modules` under the linked strategy, so when `loadActual` rebuilds the actual tree (from the filesystem scan or the hidden lockfile, neither of which records a `node_modules/<ws>` entry) the root's `workspace` edges resolve to nothing and the workspaces drop out of the tree that `ls` and `query` traverse. `npm ls` then hid those missing edges entirely to avoid a false `UNMET DEPENDENCY`. The fix adds `loadActual` post-processing that, for the linked strategy, synthesizes an in-memory `Link` at `node_modules/<ws>` for each undeclared workspace so its root edge resolves, matching the logical layout the regular `package-lock.json` already records. This is introspection-only and writes nothing to disk. A declared workspace whose root link is genuinely missing is left alone so it still reports `UNMET`, an existing root child of the same name is never replaced, and a workspace that was not loaded is skipped. With the edges now resolving, the workspace-skip branch that `npm ls` used to suppress them is removed. Fixes npm#9618
owlstronaut
approved these changes
Jun 26, 2026
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Backport of #9657 to
release/v11.Under
install-strategy=linked, a workspace the root does not depend on is installed on disk but was invisible tonpm ls --all,npm ls --workspaces, andnpm query ':root > *', all of which reported an empty tree. The hoisted strategy lists every workspace.loadActualnow synthesizes the missing root-to-workspace links for undeclared workspaces in both the filesystem-scan and hidden-lockfile paths (via a shared#linkActualWorkspaces()helper), so the root's workspace edges resolve. A declared workspace whose root link is genuinely missing is left unsynthesized so it still reportsUNMET, and a name already present as a root child is never replaced. With the edges resolving, the workspace-skip branchnpm lsused to suppress them is removed.Backport notes: the
.npm-extensioncalls from the original commit are omitted (that feature is not onrelease/v11), and thefilterLinkedStrategyEdgesdev-edge guard keeps the v11istanbul ignoresince v11 has no test exercising it.References
Fixes #9618
Backport of #9657