#14096·turborepo

`pnpm turbo gen <name>` fails on PNPM 12

Author: cwrichardsonCreated Sep 17, 2026Updated Sep 17, 2026

Labelskind: bug

Verify canary release

I verified that the issue exists in the latest Turborepo canary release.

Link to code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/cwrichardson/turbo-gen-pnpm12-repro

Which canary version will you have in your reproduction?

[email protected]

Environment information

block

• turbo 2.10.14-canary.4
CLI:
   Version: 2.10.14-canary.4
   Path to executable: /Users/cwr/src/turbo-gen-pnpm12-repro/node_modules/.pnpm/@[email protected]/node_modules/@turbo/darwin-64/bin/turbo
   Daemon status: Not running
   Package manager: pnpm9

Platform:
   Architecture: x86_64
   Operating system: macos
   WSL: false
   Available memory (MB): 4985
   Available CPU cores: 8

Environment:
   CI: None
   AI agent: None
   Terminal (TERM): xterm-256color
   Terminal program (TERM_PROGRAM): Apple_Terminal
   Terminal program version (TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION): 455.1
   Shell (SHELL): /bin/zsh
   stdin: false
   Node.js version: v24.19.0

Expected behavior

pnpm turbo gen hello generates HELLO_FROM_GEN.txt.

Actual behavior

pnpm turbo gen hello throws ERR_PNPM_IGNORED_BUILDS, even with esbuild: true in allowBuilds in pnpm-workspace.yaml:

bash

% pnpm turbo gen hello
• turbo 2.10.14-canary.4
Packages are cloned from the content-addressable store to the virtual store.
  Content-addressable store is at: /Users/cwr/Library/pnpm/store/v11
  Virtual store is at:             ../../Library/Caches/pnpm/dlx/146427fa5c20a29729bc28e70b97e4d3/mu5k6c3l-10wg/node_modules/.pacquet
.../mu5k6c3l-10wg                        | Progress: resolved 35, reused 35, downloaded 0, added 35, done

dependencies:
+ @turbo/gen 2.10.14-canary.4
Error: ERR_PNPM_IGNORED_BUILDS

  × adding a new package
  ╰─▶ Ignored build scripts: [email protected]
  help: Run "pnpm approve-builds" to pick which dependencies should be allowed
        to run scripts.

To Reproduce

bash

git clone https://github.com/cwrichardson/turbo-gen-pnpm12-repro
cd turbo-gen-pnpm12-repro
pnpm install
pnpm turbo gen hello

Additional context

I tested my reproduction against different canary releases, and the first one to introduce the problem was 2.9.19-canary.6. The generator successfully works on 2.9.19-canary.5.

Workaround

The generator can be made to work on current versions by passing approved builds directly through to a dlx call:

bash

pnpm --allow-build=esbuild dlx @turbo/gen hello

Source: vercel/turborepo

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