A shorter CLI command

[zkochan]

I remember a few posts on Twitter about pnpm being hard to say and hard to type. I don't think we need to rename the project but we can create a shorter version of the CLI command.

What if we will export an alias called pn?

So users will be able to use either pnpm install or pn install

[thynson]

I think the name shall be kept as is, but more shortcuts for sub-commands and options would be appreciated.

[zkochan]

Subcommands have short aliases already: i, rm, up, ls...

[thynson]

Yeah, even not frequently used subcommand has a shortcut.
While pnpm has 4 characters, which is at least the same with yarn, so I don't think it needs to be shorter.

[zkochan]

You can think about it as a feature. Less typing than npm or yarn. But as I said, it would be just an alias. pnpm would be still available.

[italodeandra]

@thynson I agree that 4 characters is already short, but I'm having a really hard time trying not to write npnpm for some unknown reason to me. This is totally a brain confusion but an alias like pn would be awesome.

[ibezkrovnyi]

4 letters is already short enough, but it's hard for me and for most devs in our teams to type pnpm. I mostly type npnpm or pnm, sometimes npm. idk why. Experimented a bit and if first letter has to be p (top rightmost letter on kb), then next letter has to be for the left hand, best - any leftmost letter, e.g. pq, pa, pz. After that right hand is already ready to type -- to add some cli parameter

[sunnylqm]

Another big problem is, "pnpm" is not so good for search engine. It easily gets overshadowed.

[zkochan]

yes, this was mentioned a lot on Twitter. This is a legitimate issue. Should we rename the project?

[sunnylqm]

I'll vote yes. It deserves a name that not related to npm at all.

[Danny-Rodriguez]

This might be an old thread but I’d say an alias would be appreciated. I used pnpm for the first time the other day from a tutorial and I had so much trouble consistently typing “pnpm”. It must be a cognitive process judging from others’ responses here.

[zkochan]

We have instructions how to make a shorter alias: https://pnpm.io/installation#using-a-shorter-alias

[Jack-Works]

I have a shell function that called i, which calls npm i yarn or pnpm i based on the lockfile in the current dir.

[zkochan]

There's also a tool that can make it automatically: https://github.com/antfu/ni

[kylemh]

Drop the “n”.

Just: “p”.

It’s cleaner.

[zkochan]

That sounds like pee

[benschac]

Giving my two cents as a developer with dyslexia. The command pnpm is difficult to write. I'm constantly having to double or triple-check every time I write the command. Even just saying the name of the tool is kind of tricky.

While I could create an alias. I don't have to create an alias for yarn or npm. I'd love to not have to treat pnpm differently than its peers and take additional steps to use the tool.

I know I'm using free open source software and the solution is either to fix this myself or use a different tool.

What I'm asking is to bring the barrier of entry down. It's harder to get started with pnpm than its competitors.

[zkochan]

Would the "pn" alias be easier to write for you? I agree that the project name is hard to pronounce. I don't think a rename at this stage is a good idea. But we can change the way it is pronounced. Like I know some pronounce it as "pinpom"

[hiepxanh]

Yes I think an alias is just enough, we dont need to rename

[brianjlacy]

could alias it as pn and pronounce it "pun" with the tagline

"pn is more pun"

Edit: or simply "pn is pun"

[hiepxanh]

hello, any update on this? I love pn shortcut, add it please sir
@zkochan

[zkochan]

This issue doesn't have a lot of upvotes. For now, you can create an alias yourself by putting this into your shell config:

alias pn=pnpm

[zkochan]

We may put a recipe about it to the installation page: https://pnpm.io/installation

[hiepxanh]

Yes, i think that is good place for everybody

[roll]

This issue doesn't have a lot of upvotes. For now, you can create an alias yourself by putting this into your shell config:

Hi, now this is the second most popular all-time among open ones. Any chance you might reconsider?

[angelhdzmultimedia]

Thanks for the solution, aliases. I use Powershell 7 Core in Windows so in my case it was set-alias -name pn -value pnpm.

[zkochan]

Could you instructions how to do it to our docs?

See the Using a shorter alias section here https://pnpm.io/installation#using-a-shorter-alias

[angelhdzmultimedia]

If you are asking me to make a pull request of the documentation, sure, I will be more than pleased to contribute. Indeed, I was about to make a video yesterday for my YouTube tutorials channel, but couldn't record it due to little time. But I am going to record it today and then make the pull request.

[zkochan]

ok, if it is related, you can also add a link to your video.

[angelhdzmultimedia]

I made the pull request, and it's ready to be merged. I will make the video later because I didn't have the time.

[see2ever]

alias pn="pnpm"
alias pnr="pnpm run"
alias pns="pnpm start"

[brianjlacy]

Couple more arguments for a shorter "official" alias:

1. It's surprisingly awkward.

• For a command typed as often as a package manager often is, it isn't that pnpm is "long" at 4 chars. It's that it's awkward to type (at least in my own experience) vs npm or yarn.

• It's very easy to stumble over the letters and end up with pnpn, pmpm, npmp or some such thing (each of those examples, btw, are ones I've specifically made in the past, and am more likely to make in high pressure scenarios 😅).

2. Chance of alias conflicts

• It's true that aliases are easy enough to create on our own, and this is what I typically do. But without an official alias, the chances increase over time of a conflict between a high profile tool like pnpm and some other important tool that decides pn or pmp sounds like a keen CLI tool name, forcing me to change my alias (or create one for the other tool instead).

• If an official alias were added, it'd likely become the defacto usage for the tool, and other libraries would avoid using it (just as no one serious is going to name another CLI pnpm or yarn). As popular tools (and aliases) take root in the community, it effectively "reserves" them for use in the defacto community name space so that other tool creators steer clear.

---

TL;DR -- Throwing my support behind an OFFICIAL alias to

• (a) prevent keyboard stumbles
• (b) minimize chance of tool name/alias collisions over time

[roll]

I think another important point is that a custom alias is not sustainable option for a open-source project documentation. You can't just use pn in documentation without confusion

[zkochan]

I think I have asked this in the past but I have created a new poll: https://x.com/pnpmjs/status/1953456956095570428

[brianjlacy]

I've deleted my Twitter acct in the past year but you can count a +1-in-spirit for the Yes vote on your poll. 😁

[zkochan]

43% voted to ship "pn". So, I guess we should? Those 57% can just continue using "pnpm", I guess.

[roll]

Just for context, in Python it seems to be a leading solution for package management now is: uv and uvx (npx counterpart)