perf: resolve dependency directories without Node's module resolver by LadyBluenotes · Pull Request #276 · TanStack/intent

LadyBluenotes · 2026-09-12T00:59:13Z

Summary

First of a three-PR perf stack (this → lazy scan path → bundled deps).

resolveDepDir called createRequire().resolve('<dep>/package.json') for every dependency edge in the scan. Node's resolver evaluates export maps, reads the nearest package.json, and realpaths every path segment per call. A CPU profile of intent list at this repo's root (pnpm monorepo, 438 package.json reads) put 624 of ~940 ms inside that call, with lstat and internalModuleStat as the top self-time entries.

This PR:

Replaces the resolver call with the plain node_modules ancestor walk the function already used as a fallback. It skips node_modules/node_modules ancestors like Node does and collapses a symlinked match (pnpm virtual store, workspace links) with one lstat plus one native realpath.
Resolves a package's real root once per package in skill discovery instead of once per skill file (readSkillEntry did three realpath calls per skill).
Adds a focused unit test for resolveDepDir covering nested, hoisted, scoped, virtual-store sibling, symlinked, and missing cases.

Measurements (Windows 11, warm cache, import + run of `main(['list'])`)

Scenario	main	this PR
repo root (pnpm monorepo)	~770 ms	~555 ms
`example/start-basic` (npm, 7 pkgs / 24 skills)	~295 ms	~230 ms

intent list --json output on example/start-basic is byte-identical to main, and --debug stats (package.json read count) are unchanged at the repo root.

Summary by CodeRabbit

Performance
- Improved dependency discovery speed, with intent list running approximately 30% faster in pnpm monorepos.
- Preserved discovered packages and paths while reducing repeated dependency resolution work.
Bug Fixes
- Improved resolution of nested, scoped, workspace-linked, and pnpm-managed dependencies.
- Preserved useful path warnings and fallback reporting when package metadata cannot be read.

coderabbitai · 2026-09-12T00:59:24Z

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Run ID: 02590e89-7173-429b-b471-b567232b4680

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 53c5f79 and c8bda69.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

packages/intent/src/discovery/scanner.ts

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📒 Files selected for processing (4)

.changeset/fast-dep-resolution.md
packages/intent/src/discovery/scanner.ts
packages/intent/src/shared/utils.ts
packages/intent/tests/resolve-dep-dir.test.ts

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The dependency resolver now walks node_modules directories directly and collapses symlinks once per package. Skill discovery resolves and reuses each package root across entries. Tests cover nested, hoisted, scoped, virtual-store, and symlinked dependencies.

Changes

Dependency Discovery Optimization

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Direct dependency directory resolution `packages/intent/src/shared/utils.ts`	`resolveDepDir` walks ancestor directories, validates `package.json`, skips nested `node_modules` ancestors, and resolves symlinked package directories.
Shared package-root discovery `packages/intent/src/discovery/scanner.ts`	Hinted and bulk skill discovery resolve each package root once and reuse it while preserving invalid-entry fallbacks and warnings.
Resolver validation and release metadata `packages/intent/tests/resolve-dep-dir.test.ts`, `.changeset/fast-dep-resolution.md`	Tests cover nested, hoisted, scoped, virtual-store, symlinked, invalid, and missing dependencies. The changeset declares a patch release.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Refactor

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 53c5f

Dependency discovery is optimized while preserving the tested package-resolution and skill-discovery behavior. No current merge-blocking risk was identified.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 33.33% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 9 functions across 3 files. (1 skipped: 1…	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main performance change: replacing Node's module resolver for dependency directory resolution.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description gives a detailed summary, motivation, measurements, implementation details, and test plan. It does not use the template's exact Changes, Checklist, and Release Impact headings, but it …

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 33.33% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 9 functions across 3 files. (1 skipped: 1 unsupported.)

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 2

📝 Generate docstrings 💡

Create stacked PR
Commit on current branch

⚔️ Resolve merge conflicts 💡

Resolve merge conflict in branch perf-dep-resolver

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

Create PR with unit tests
Commit unit tests in branch perf-dep-resolver

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codspeed-hq · 2026-09-12T01:11:50Z

Merging this PR will not alter performance

✅ 9 untouched benchmarks

_{Comparing perf-dep-resolver (c8bda69) with main (36a1bf1)¹}

No successful run was found on main (9e73959) during the generation of this report, so 36a1bf1 was used instead as the comparison base. There might be some changes unrelated to this pull request in this report. ↩

nx-cloud · 2026-09-12T01:16:52Z

View your CI Pipeline Execution ↗ for commit c8bda69

Command	Status	Duration	Result
`nx affected --targets=test:eslint,test:sherif,t...`	✅ Succeeded	48s	View ↗
`nx run-many --targets=build`	✅ Succeeded	2s	View ↗

☁️ Nx Cloud last updated this comment at 2026-09-12 01:51:51 UTC

pkg-pr-new · 2026-09-12T01:16:58Z

Open in StackBlitz

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@tanstack/intent@276

commit: c8bda69

`resolveDepDir` used `createRequire().resolve('<dep>/package.json')` for every dependency edge in the scan. Node's resolver evaluates export maps, reads the nearest package.json, and realpaths each path segment per call; in a pnpm monorepo that was two thirds of `intent list` time. Replace it with the plain `node_modules` ancestor walk the function already used as a fallback (skipping `node_modules/node_modules` like Node does), collapsing a symlinked match with one lstat and one native realpath. Discovered packages and their roots are unchanged. Also resolve a package's real root once per package in skill discovery instead of once per skill file.

LadyBluenotes force-pushed the perf-dep-resolver branch from 53c5f79 to f7a1e23 Compare September 12, 2026 01:06

LadyBluenotes mentioned this pull request Sep 12, 2026

perf: keep semver and interactive prompts off the list/load startup path #278

Merged

LadyBluenotes force-pushed the perf-dep-resolver branch from f7a1e23 to a48cb72 Compare September 12, 2026 01:37

LadyBluenotes mentioned this pull request Sep 12, 2026

perf: bundle runtime dependencies into dist #279

Merged

LadyBluenotes force-pushed the perf-dep-resolver branch from a48cb72 to 1ad4b25 Compare September 12, 2026 01:43

LadyBluenotes added this pull request to stack #280 September 12, 2026 01:45

LadyBluenotes force-pushed the perf-dep-resolver branch from 1ad4b25 to c8bda69 Compare September 12, 2026 01:45

LadyBluenotes merged commit 74d1b26 into main Sep 12, 2026
9 checks passed

LadyBluenotes deleted the perf-dep-resolver branch September 12, 2026 01:48

LadyBluenotes mentioned this pull request Sep 12, 2026

perf: cut filesystem calls in the dependency walk #282

Merged

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Sep 12, 2026

ci: Version Packages #281

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perf: resolve dependency directories without Node's module resolver - #276

perf: resolve dependency directories without Node's module resolver#276
LadyBluenotes merged 1 commit into
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perf-dep-resolver

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LadyBluenotes commented Sep 12, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Summary

Measurements (Windows 11, warm cache, import + run of main(['list']))

Summary by CodeRabbit

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Merging this PR will not alter performance

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LadyBluenotes commented Sep 12, 2026 •

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Measurements (Windows 11, warm cache, import + run of `main(['list'])`)

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