diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 0811fb336a..ae7ca51eb4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ jobs:
           # Force-reinstall the published `latest` version rather than the local
           # build's version: mid-release-cycle the build can be ahead of the
           # registry, and `vp upgrade <version>` must download <version> from npm.
-          $version = "$(npm view vite-plus version)".Trim()
+          $version = "$(pnpm view vite-plus version)".Trim()
           if (-not $version) {
             Write-Error "Failed to resolve latest published vite-plus version"
             exit 1
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ jobs:
           # Force-reinstall the published `latest` version rather than the local
           # build's version: mid-release-cycle the build can be ahead of the
           # registry, and `vp upgrade <version>` must download <version> from npm.
-          version=$(npm view vite-plus version)
+          version=$(pnpm view vite-plus version)
           if [ -z "$version" ]; then
             echo "Failed to resolve latest published vite-plus version"
             exit 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
index e63f1a51f1..6afd471de6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-test.yml
@@ -113,8 +113,8 @@ jobs:
           # A release commit can leave `packages/{core,cli}` at a published
           # version (e.g. 0.1.22), which would make `pnpm pack` emit
           # `*-0.1.22.tgz` instead. Pin both to 0.0.0 so the names stay stable.
-          (cd packages/core && npm pkg set version=0.0.0)
-          (cd packages/cli && npm pkg set version=0.0.0)
+          (cd packages/core && pnpm pkg set version=0.0.0)
+          (cd packages/cli && pnpm pkg set version=0.0.0)
           cd packages/core && pnpm pack --pack-destination ../../tmp/tgz && cd ../..
           cd packages/cli && pnpm pack --pack-destination ../../tmp/tgz && cd ../..
           # Bun is uniquely strict about peer-dep resolution:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-vp-create.yml b/.github/workflows/test-vp-create.yml
index 2a2973cc30..979ec5b210 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-vp-create.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-vp-create.yml
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ jobs:
           # A release commit can leave `packages/{core,cli}` at a published
           # version (e.g. 0.1.22), which would make `pnpm pack` emit
           # `*-0.1.22.tgz` instead. Pin both to 0.0.0 so the names stay stable.
-          (cd packages/core && npm pkg set version=0.0.0)
-          (cd packages/cli && npm pkg set version=0.0.0)
+          (cd packages/core && pnpm pkg set version=0.0.0)
+          (cd packages/cli && pnpm pkg set version=0.0.0)
           cd packages/core && pnpm pack --pack-destination ../../tmp/tgz && cd ../..
           cd packages/cli && pnpm pack --pack-destination ../../tmp/tgz && cd ../..
           # Bun is uniquely strict about peer-dep resolution:
diff --git a/crates/vite_global_cli/src/shim/dispatch.rs b/crates/vite_global_cli/src/shim/dispatch.rs
index 47776f7a31..988776478d 100644
--- a/crates/vite_global_cli/src/shim/dispatch.rs
+++ b/crates/vite_global_cli/src/shim/dispatch.rs
@@ -714,6 +714,26 @@ async fn resolve_matching_package_manager_tool(
     Ok(Some(package_manager_bin_path(&install_dir, bin_name)))
 }
 
+fn npm_package_manager_mismatch_message(cwd: &AbsolutePath) -> Result<Option<String>, Error> {
+    let Some(resolution) = resolve_package_manager_from_package_json(cwd)? else {
+        return Ok(None);
+    };
+
+    if resolution.package_manager_type == PackageManagerType::Npm {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+
+    let package_manager = resolution.package_manager_type;
+    let path = resolution.source_path.as_path().display();
+    let source = resolution.source;
+    Ok(Some(
+        vite_str::format!(
+            "This project is configured to use {package_manager} because {path} has a \"{source}\" field\n\nUse `{package_manager}` instead of `npm`."
+        )
+        .to_string(),
+    ))
+}
+
 async fn prepend_js_child_process_path_env(
     cwd: &AbsolutePath,
     node_bin_dir: &AbsolutePath,
@@ -762,14 +782,6 @@ pub async fn dispatch(tool: &str, args: &[String]) -> i32 {
         return crate::commands::vpr::execute_vpr(args, &cwd).await;
     }
 
-    // Check recursion prevention - if already in a shim context, passthrough directly
-    // Only applies to core tools (node/npm/npx) whose bin dir is prepended to PATH.
-    // Package binaries are always resolved via metadata lookup, so they can't loop.
-    if std::env::var(RECURSION_ENV_VAR).is_ok() && is_core_shim_tool(tool) {
-        tracing::debug!("recursion prevention enabled for core tool");
-        return passthrough_to_system(tool, args);
-    }
-
     // Check bypass mode (explicit environment variable)
     if std::env::var(env_vars::VP_BYPASS).is_ok() {
         tracing::debug!("bypass mode enabled");
@@ -813,6 +825,37 @@ pub async fn dispatch(tool: &str, args: &[String]) -> i32 {
         return super::corepack::dispatch_corepack(args).await;
     }
 
+    // Check recursion prevention - if already in a shim context, passthrough directly
+    // Only applies to core tools (node/npm/npx) whose bin dir is prepended to PATH.
+    // Package binaries are always resolved via metadata lookup, so they can't loop.
+    if std::env::var(RECURSION_ENV_VAR).is_ok() && is_core_shim_tool(tool) {
+        tracing::debug!("recursion prevention enabled for core tool");
+        return passthrough_to_system(tool, args);
+    }
+
+    // Top-level npm should not run against a project that explicitly declares
+    // a different package manager.
+    if tool == "npm" {
+        let cwd = match current_dir() {
+            Ok(path) => path,
+            Err(e) => {
+                eprintln!("vp: Failed to get current directory: {e}");
+                return 1;
+            }
+        };
+        match npm_package_manager_mismatch_message(&cwd) {
+            Ok(Some(message)) => {
+                output::raw_stderr(&message);
+                return 1;
+            }
+            Ok(None) => {}
+            Err(e) => {
+                eprintln!("vp: Failed to resolve package manager for '{tool}': {e}");
+                return 1;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // Check if this is a package binary (not node/npm/npx)
     if !is_core_shim_tool(tool) {
         return dispatch_package_binary(tool, args).await;
@@ -1503,6 +1546,30 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_package_manager_tool_mismatch_blocks_npm_for_pnpm_project() {
+        let temp = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+        let cwd = AbsolutePathBuf::new(temp.path().to_path_buf()).unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            cwd.join("package.json"),
+            r#"{"name":"fixture","packageManager":"pnpm@10.33.2"}"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+
+        let message = npm_package_manager_mismatch_message(&cwd).unwrap().unwrap();
+
+        assert!(message.contains("This project is configured to use pnpm"), "got: {message}");
+        assert!(message.contains("\"packageManager\" field"), "got: {message}");
+        assert!(message.contains("Use `pnpm` instead of `npm`."), "got: {message}");
+
+        std::fs::write(
+            cwd.join("package.json"),
+            r#"{"name":"fixture","packageManager":"npm@10.9.4"}"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert!(npm_package_manager_mismatch_message(&cwd).unwrap().is_none());
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     #[serial]
     async fn test_resolve_with_cache_bypasses_stale_lts_after_dev_engines_is_added() {
diff --git a/crates/vite_setup/src/install.rs b/crates/vite_setup/src/install.rs
index 879af4f4a5..e497f017b5 100644
--- a/crates/vite_setup/src/install.rs
+++ b/crates/vite_setup/src/install.rs
@@ -357,7 +357,8 @@ async fn run_pnpm_install(
         .args(args)
         .current_dir(version_dir)
         .env("CI", "true")
-        .env("PATH", path);
+        .env("PATH", path)
+        .env(vite_shared::env_vars::VP_TOOL_RECURSION, "1");
 
     if let Some(registry_url) = registry {
         cmd.env(vite_shared::env_vars::NPM_CONFIG_REGISTRY, registry_url);
@@ -873,7 +874,7 @@ mod tests {
         let node_binary = node_bin.join("node");
         tokio::fs::write(
             &node_binary,
-            "#!/bin/sh\nprintf '%s\\n' \"$@\" > invocation.txt\nprintf '%s' \"$PATH\" > path.txt\nprintf '%s' \"$npm_config_registry\" > registry.txt\n",
+            "#!/bin/sh\nprintf '%s\\n' \"$@\" > invocation.txt\nprintf '%s' \"$PATH\" > path.txt\nprintf '%s' \"$npm_config_registry\" > registry.txt\nprintf '%s' \"$VP_TOOL_RECURSION\" > recursion.txt\n",
         )
         .await
         .unwrap();
@@ -913,6 +914,9 @@ mod tests {
         // falls back to its default registry.
         let registry = tokio::fs::read_to_string(version_dir.join("registry.txt")).await.unwrap();
         assert_eq!(registry, "");
+
+        let recursion = tokio::fs::read_to_string(version_dir.join("recursion.txt")).await.unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(recursion, "1");
     }
 
     #[cfg(unix)]
diff --git a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/.node-version b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/.node-version
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/.node-version
rename to packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/.node-version
diff --git a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/package.json b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/package.json
similarity index 58%
rename from packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/package.json
rename to packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/package.json
index 904d8ea55a..49bcac5efc 100644
--- a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "name": "shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager",
+  "name": "shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager",
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "private": true,
   "packageManager": "pnpm@10.19.0"
diff --git a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c128d824e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+> vp env exec node --version # Ensure Node.js is installed first
+v20.18.0
+
+> npm --version || echo "npm shim blocked mismatched packageManager"
+This project is configured to use pnpm because <cwd>/package.json has a "packageManager" field
+
+Use `pnpm` instead of `npm`.
+npm shim blocked mismatched packageManager
+
+> test "$(npx --version)" != "10.19.0" && echo "npx shim ignored mismatched packageManager"
+npx shim ignored mismatched packageManager
diff --git a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json
similarity index 70%
rename from packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json
rename to packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json
index 87795302a5..8974cd5a6a 100644
--- a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json
+++ b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-blocks-mismatched-package-manager/steps.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "env": {},
   "commands": [
     "vp env exec node --version # Ensure Node.js is installed first",
-    "test \"$(npm --version)\" != \"10.19.0\" && echo \"npm shim ignored mismatched packageManager\"",
+    "npm --version || echo \"npm shim blocked mismatched packageManager\"",
     "test \"$(npx --version)\" != \"10.19.0\" && echo \"npx shim ignored mismatched packageManager\""
   ]
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt b/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 72b32bee58..0000000000
--- a/packages/cli/snap-tests-global/shim-npm-ignores-mismatched-package-manager/snap.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-> vp env exec node --version # Ensure Node.js is installed first
-v20.18.0
-
-> test "$(npm --version)" != "10.19.0" && echo "npm shim ignored mismatched packageManager"
-npm shim ignored mismatched packageManager
-
-> test "$(npx --version)" != "10.19.0" && echo "npx shim ignored mismatched packageManager"
-npx shim ignored mismatched packageManager