pnpm install + pnpm dev fails out of the box on Linux (esbuild + lightningcss)
Nobody has claimed this yet.
Assessment
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100
- Issue type
- Bug
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Tech stack
- linux, node.js, react, typescript
- Domain
- build-system, devtools, operating-systems
Research direction
Start by reproducing the documented scaffold command on Linux with the listed Node and pnpm versions, then inspect the generated project's dependencies and dev-server entry point. Compare the pnpm install path with the reported npm workaround and verify that a fresh scaffold can install and start with pnpm without either native-module error.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Which project does this relate to?
Create Tanstack App
Describe the bug
A freshly scaffolded TanStack Start project fails immediately with two consecutive
errors when using pnpm on Linux. No modifications were made to the project.
Your Example Website or App
Fresh scaffold via: pnpm create @tanstack/start@latest No modifications made. Reproducible on any Linux x64 machine with pnpm.
Steps to Reproduce the Bug or Issue
- pnpm create @tanstack/start@latest
- cd
- pnpm install
- pnpm dev
Expected behavior
The dev server starts successfully after a fresh install.
Screenshots or Videos
No response
Platform
- OS: Linux x64 (Ubuntu)
- Node: v22.22.0
- pnpm: v10.30.1
- @tanstack/react-start: 1.162.4
Additional context
Two errors occur in sequence:
Error 1 — esbuild postinstall fails:
The scaffold pins esbuild@0.27.3 directly in dependencies. This version has a
broken postinstall script that fails with:
Error: Expected "0.27.3" but got ""
Error 2 — lightningcss native binary missing (after removing esbuild from
dependencies):
pnpm's strict symlinking means lightningcss-linux-x64-gnu binary never gets
linked into lightningcss's node/ directory:
Error: Cannot find module '../lightningcss.linux-x64-gnu.node'
Workaround: using npm install instead of pnpm works without issues.
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 1.3k
- Forks
- 185
- Avg merge
- 18h 45m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 2
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
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