pnpm install + pnpm dev fails out of the box on Linux (esbuild + lightningcss) #394

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

1. pnpm create @tanstack/start@latest
2. cd
3. pnpm install
4. 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.