NodeJS high memory usage when using pnpm with devEngines.packageManager

TL;DR

Fix: The reporter's own resolution: remove a stray .nvmrc file that was conflicting with version resolution; after that memory stayed at the expected level.

The error

Node.js monorepo: switching version management to `devEngines.runtime` + `devEngines.packageManager` in package.json makes Railway report ~3x memory usage (200MB -> 700MB) for the same app.

Fix

1. The reporter's own resolution: remove a stray .nvmrc file that was conflicting with version resolution; after that memory stayed at the expected level.

Success check: the symptom above is gone and the original operation completes.

When to use

• You hit this exact symptom in railpack.
• You want the verified fix without digging through the thread.

When not to use

• A different error in railpack, even a similar-looking one.
• General railpack setup or credential questions.

Compatibility

• Railpack (railwayapp/railpack)

Variant phrasings

• How to fix "nodeJS high memory usage when using pnpm with devEngines.packageManager" in railpack
• railpack: nodeJS high memory usage when using pnpm with devEngines.packageManager

Source

• https://github.com/railwayapp/railpack/issues/616

In gh:railwayapp/railpack#616 (https://github.com/railwayapp/railpack/issues/616), the question was: Node.js monorepo: switching version management to devEngines.runtime + devEngines.packageManager in package.json makes Railway report ~3x memory usage (200MB -> 700MB) for the same app. The verified resolution: Maintainer iloveitaly explained Railpack (via mise) did not honor devEngines.packageManager, so node resolution fell back to defaults while the runtime requested a different version, the mismatch caused an extra node download/extraction at startup, adding ~200MB of filesystem-cache memory. Railpack added native devEngines support in PR #678.