Why does Yarn 2 / Yarn 3 add `packageManager` to package.json, and can I delete it?

Question

After migrating to Yarn 2 / Yarn 3 (running yarn version set stable), yarn added a field to my package.json:

  "packageManager": "yarn@3.2.3",

What is this field for? Can I safely delete it?

Answer 1

the packageManager field is a newer experimental feature of the package.json, introduced in Node v16.9.0.

While it's safe to remove, on systems that have corepack enabled, this can be a useful way to keep your package manager (yarn) in sync with other members of your development team.