Problem setting up a new SvelteKit project

[PixelForm]

Describe the bug

I simply create a new project with: npx sv create. The interactive steps are shown, I select the required presets and finally it asks: "Which package manager do you want to use?", this is where it goes wrong: I choose pnpm it shows the following in my terminal:

To skip prompts next time, run:
●  pnpm dlx sv@0.17.0 create --template minimal --types ts --add prettier eslint vitest="usages:unit,component" playwright tailwindcss="plugins:none" drizzle="database:postgresql+postgresql:neon" better-auth="demo:none" ai-tools="ide:claude-code+delivery:plugin" --install pnpm .
│
■  Failed to install dependencies
│  Error: ERR_PNPM_OTHER_PM_EXPECTED
│  
│    × This project is configured to use yarn
│    help: Run a one-off command with "pnpm dlx yarn <command>", or link a yarn
│          command that follows this project's pin with "pnpm shim add yarn".
│  
└  Operation failed.

When I check the package.json it does indeed have the yarn package manager referenced in the packageManager field. Why is that? I explicitly choose pnpm NOT yarn.

Reproduction

To reproduce simply run the normal sv command: npx sv create .. When running the command with a directory name (npx sv create my-app) it does actually seem to work properly but not when you are in the current directory.

Logs

System Info

System:
    OS: Windows 11 10.0.26200
    CPU: (32) x64 AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core Processor          
    Memory: 45.03 GB / 63.11 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 22.16.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE
    Yarn: 1.22.22 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\yarn.CMD
    npm: 10.9.2 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
    pnpm: 12.4.1 - %APPDATA%\Local\pnpm\bin\pnpm.CMD
    Deno: 2.6.3 - %USERPROFILE%\.deno\bin\deno.EXE
  Browsers:
    Edge: Chromium (152.0.4191.53)

Severity

annoyance

Additional Information

No response

[svelte-triage-bot]

I could not reproduce the reported behavior from the instructions currently available.

What I tried

• Read "Problem setting up a new SvelteKit project #1321" and its comments: The issue reports sv 0.17.0 on Windows 11; there were no comments or additional reproduction details.
• Inspected the prewarmed Kit checkout and repository guidance: Kit version-3 was clean at 4da6320. The checkout contains no sv create implementation; npm metadata identifies sv as sourced from https://github.com/sveltejs/cli.git.
• Prepared the reported package-manager versions where possible: Ran Node v24.20.0, npm 11.19.0, published sv 0.17.0 (the current latest), and a locally installed pnpm 12.4.1. The sandbox is Linux rather than the reporter's Windows 11 environment.
• Ran minimal current-directory reproduction: PATH=/tmp/pnpm12/node_modules/.bin:$PATH npx -y sv@0.17.0 create . --template minimal --types ts --no-add-ons --install pnpm exited 0, installed successfully with pnpm, and generated package.json with no packageManager field.
• Ran the issue's complete add-on selection in .: The non-interactive equivalent with prettier, eslint, vitest, playwright, tailwindcss, drizzle Neon/PostgreSQL, better-auth, ai-tools, and --install pnpm . exited 0. pnpm installed successfully and package.json again had no packageManager field.
• Retested . with preexisting Yarn metadata in the destination: Created package.json containing "packageManager":"yarn@1.22.22", then ran sv 0.17.0 with --no-dir-check --install pnpm .. The template replaced the old manifest, removed the Yarn metadata, and pnpm installation succeeded (exit 0).
• Tested a Yarn-configured ancestor for both destination forms: With a parent package.json declaring Yarn, pnpm 12.4.1 refused installation for both create . and create named (both exit 2), citing the parent manifest. Neither generated child manifest contained packageManager; this does not match the reported distinction where only . fails.
• Inspected sv 0.17.0 and current CLI scaffolding sources: createKit copies the template package.json over the destination before package-manager selection/install. No create path writes a packageManager field. The relevant implementation and tests live in sveltejs/cli, not either supported sveltejs/kit or sveltejs/svelte checkout.
• Checked supported working trees after investigation: Both /workspace/repos/kit and /workspace/repos/svelte remained clean; no product code, test, commit, or branch was created.

Observed blocker
The reported behavior could not be reproduced with published sv 0.17.0 and pnpm 12.4.1. Both a minimal create . and the issue's full add-on configuration installed successfully and generated no packageManager metadata. A preexisting Yarn field in the destination was overwritten as expected. The only induced package-manager conflict came from a Yarn-configured ancestor, and that failed identically for . and a named child while leaving both generated manifests without metadata, so it is a different condition. The sandbox cannot duplicate Windows 11, and the responsible code is maintained in sveltejs/cli rather than the supplied Kit repository, but the available exact and diagnostic variations provide no failing behavior to reduce or safely patch.

[jycouet]

Interesting!
It looks like when we look at the yarn version, with COREPACK, when the cmd is executed, it's filling the package.json with yarn! :o

[PixelForm]

@jycouet Ah okay! Glad it's easy to fix I usually run the command in the current directory, so this fix would mean alot!

[jycouet]

If you set COREPACK_ENABLE_AUTO_PIN=0 globaly it should be fixed also ! 😊

[PixelForm]

@jycouet Thanks, I will use that for now.

[sacrosanctic]

@PixelForm can you see if npx https://pkg.svelte.dev/sv/c/53f9df5e14944b3b2ffd6ba88dd044bfe108226f create solves your issue?

[PixelForm]

@sacrosanctic Yes! It works very well. I have tested it against the current directory . and a named directory my-app. Both work as expected.