diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e53bbe3..dde6d008 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,12 +2,25 @@
 
 This repository contains packages that are shared dependencies of Compass, the MongoDB extension for VSCode and MongoSH.
 
+## Package Manager Configuration
+
+By default, this repository uses `npm` for package management. You can optionally use `pnpm` instead by setting the `MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM` environment variable:
+
+```bash
+export MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM=true
+```
+
+When `MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM=true`, all monorepo tools scripts will use `pnpm` instead of `npm` and `pnpm dlx` instead of `npx`.
+
+## Getting Started
+
 To start working:
 
 ```
 npm run bootstrap
 ```
 
+
 Lint code and dependencies
 
 ```
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/bump-packages.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/bump-packages.ts
index 94915ae6..a7dc7994 100644
--- a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/bump-packages.ts
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/bump-packages.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-console */
-import childProcess from 'child_process';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 // @ts-expect-error No definitions available
 import gitLogParser from 'git-log-parser';
@@ -7,14 +6,13 @@ import path from 'path';
 import type { ReleaseType } from 'semver';
 import semver from 'semver';
 import { PassThrough } from 'stream';
-import { isDeepStrictEqual, promisify } from 'util';
+import { isDeepStrictEqual } from 'util';
 
 import type { GitCommit } from './utils/get-conventional-bump';
 import { getConventionalBump } from './utils/get-conventional-bump';
 import { getPackagesInTopologicalOrder } from './utils/get-packages-in-topological-order';
 import { maxIncrement } from './utils/max-increment';
-
-const execFile = promisify(childProcess.execFile);
+import { installDependencies } from './utils/package-manager';
 
 const LAST_BUMP_COMMIT_MESSAGE =
   process.env.LAST_BUMP_COMMIT_MESSAGE || 'chore(ci): bump packages';
@@ -58,7 +56,7 @@ async function main() {
     );
   }
 
-  await execFile('npm', ['install', '--package-lock-only']);
+  await installDependencies({ packageLockOnly: true });
 }
 
 main().catch((err) =>
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/depalign.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/depalign.ts
index 6b23e00f..17cce7c3 100644
--- a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/depalign.ts
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/depalign.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import path from 'path';
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import pacote from 'pacote';
-import { runInDir } from './utils/run-in-dir';
 import { listAllPackages } from './utils/list-all-packages';
 import { updatePackageJson } from './utils/update-package-json';
 import { withProgress } from './utils/with-progress';
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@ import { calculateReplacements, intersects } from './utils/semver-helpers';
 import type { ParsedArgs } from 'minimist';
 import minimist from 'minimist';
 import type ora from 'ora';
+import { installDependencies } from './utils/package-manager';
 
 const DEPENDENCY_GROUPS = [
   'peerDependencies',
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ async function alignPackageToRange(packageName: string, range: string) {
     });
   }
 
-  await runInDir('npm install');
+  await installDependencies();
 }
 
 function hasDep(
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ async function applyFixes(
 
   spinner.text = `${spinnerText} for ${totalToUpdate} dependencies (updating package-lock.json)`;
 
-  await runInDir('npm install --package-lock-only');
+  await installDependencies({ packageLockOnly: true });
 
   spinner.text = `${spinnerText} for ${totalToUpdate} dependencies`;
 
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/precommit.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/precommit.ts
index 142c9a67..96d6c6d3 100644
--- a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/precommit.ts
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/precommit.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 
 import path from 'path';
 import pkgUp from 'pkg-up';
-import { promisify } from 'util';
-import { execFile } from 'child_process';
 import * as fs from 'fs/promises';
 import findUp from 'find-up';
+import { executePackage } from './utils/package-manager';
+import { promisify } from 'util';
+import { execFile } from 'child_process';
 const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
 async function main(fileList: string[]) {
@@ -78,15 +79,17 @@ async function main(fileList: string[]) {
     console.log(`  - ${path.relative(process.cwd(), filePath)}`);
   });
 
-  await execFileAsync('npx', [
-    'prettier',
-    '--config',
-    require.resolve('@mongodb-js/prettier-config-devtools/.prettierrc.json'),
-    // Silently ignore files that are of format that is not supported by prettier
-    '--ignore-unknown',
-    '--write',
-    ...filesToPrettify,
-  ]);
+  await executePackage({
+    packageName: 'prettier',
+    args: [
+      '--config',
+      require.resolve('@mongodb-js/prettier-config-devtools/.prettierrc.json'),
+      // Silently ignore files that are of format that is not supported by prettier
+      '--ignore-unknown',
+      '--write',
+      ...filesToPrettify,
+    ],
+  });
 
   // Re-add potentially reformatted files
   await execFileAsync('git', ['add', ...filesToPrettify]);
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.spec.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08cd6e09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import assert from 'assert';
+import * as packageManager from './package-manager';
+
+describe('package-manager', function () {
+  let originalEnv: string | undefined;
+
+  beforeEach(function () {
+    originalEnv = process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(function () {
+    if (originalEnv === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM;
+    } else {
+      process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM = originalEnv;
+    }
+  });
+
+  describe('getPackageManager', function () {
+    it('returns npm by default', function () {
+      delete process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM;
+      assert.strictEqual(packageManager.getPackageManager(), 'npm');
+    });
+
+    it('returns npm when MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM is false', function () {
+      process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM = 'false';
+      assert.strictEqual(packageManager.getPackageManager(), 'npm');
+    });
+
+    it('returns npm when MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM is empty string', function () {
+      process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM = '';
+      assert.strictEqual(packageManager.getPackageManager(), 'npm');
+    });
+
+    it('returns pnpm when MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM is true', function () {
+      process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM = 'true';
+      assert.strictEqual(packageManager.getPackageManager(), 'pnpm');
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9d1da60d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/utils/package-manager.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { promisify } from 'util';
+import { execFile as execFileCallback, execFileSync } from 'child_process';
+
+const execFile = promisify(execFileCallback);
+
+/**
+ * Get the package manager to use based on environment variable.
+ * Defaults to 'npm' if MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM is not set or set to anything other than 'true'.
+ *
+ * Set MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM=true to use pnpm instead of npm.
+ */
+export function getPackageManager(): 'npm' | 'pnpm' {
+  return process.env.MONOREPO_TOOLS_USE_PNPM === 'true' ? 'pnpm' : 'npm';
+}
+
+/**
+ * Install dependencies using the configured package manager.
+ * Equivalent to: npm install / pnpm install
+ *
+ * @param options.cwd Working directory (defaults to process.cwd())
+ * @param options.packageLockOnly If true, only updates lock file without installing (defaults to false)
+ */
+export async function installDependencies(
+  options: { cwd?: string; packageLockOnly?: boolean } = {},
+): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
+  const { cwd, packageLockOnly = false } = options;
+  const packageManager = getPackageManager();
+  const args = ['install'];
+
+  if (packageLockOnly) {
+    // npm uses --package-lock-only, pnpm uses --lockfile-only
+    args.push(
+      packageManager === 'pnpm' ? '--lockfile-only' : '--package-lock-only',
+    );
+  }
+
+  return await execFile(packageManager, args, { cwd });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get the version of the configured package manager.
+ * Returns the version string (e.g., "9.0.0" for npm or "8.15.0" for pnpm).
+ */
+export async function getPackageManagerVersion(): Promise<string> {
+  const packageManager = getPackageManager();
+  const { stdout } = await execFile(packageManager, ['-v']);
+  return stdout.trim();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Run a package manager command for specific workspaces.
+ * For npm: uses --workspace flags
+ * For pnpm: uses --filter flags
+ *
+ * @param options.workspaces Array of workspace names to target
+ * @param options.args Package manager command arguments (e.g., ['run', 'test'])
+ * @param options.stdio stdio configuration for child process (defaults to 'inherit')
+ */
+export function runForWorkspaces(options: {
+  workspaces: string[];
+  args: string[];
+  stdio?: 'inherit' | 'pipe' | 'ignore';
+}): void {
+  const { workspaces, args, stdio = 'inherit' } = options;
+  const packageManager = getPackageManager();
+
+  const workspaceArgs =
+    packageManager === 'pnpm'
+      ? workspaces.map((name) => `--filter=${name}`)
+      : workspaces.map((name) => `--workspace=${name}`);
+
+  execFileSync(packageManager, [...workspaceArgs, ...args], { stdio });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Execute a package with the configured package executor (npx or pnpm dlx).
+ *
+ * @param options.packageName The package/command to execute
+ * @param options.args Arguments to pass to the package
+ * @param options.cwd Working directory (defaults to process.cwd())
+ */
+export async function executePackage(options: {
+  packageName: string;
+  args: string[];
+  cwd?: string;
+}): Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }> {
+  const { packageName, args, cwd } = options;
+  const packageManager = getPackageManager();
+
+  if (packageManager === 'pnpm') {
+    return await execFile('pnpm', ['dlx', packageName, ...args], { cwd });
+  }
+  return await execFile('npx', [packageName, ...args], { cwd });
+}
diff --git a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/where.ts b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/where.ts
index 67602be5..664f7e71 100644
--- a/packages/monorepo-tools/src/where.ts
+++ b/packages/monorepo-tools/src/where.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ import { runInContext, createContext } from 'vm';
 import { execFileSync } from 'child_process';
 import { listAllPackages } from './utils/list-all-packages';
 import { findMonorepoRoot } from './utils/find-monorepo-root';
+import {
+  getPackageManager,
+  getPackageManagerVersion,
+  runForWorkspaces,
+} from './utils/package-manager';
 
 const [expr, ...execCommandArgs] = process.argv.slice(2);
 let useLernaExec = false;
@@ -67,34 +72,40 @@ async function lernaExec(packages: string[]) {
   });
 }
 
-// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/require-await
 async function npmWorkspaces(packages: string[]) {
-  const npmVersion = execFileSync('npm', ['-v']).toString();
+  const packageManager = getPackageManager();
+  const packageManagerVersion = await getPackageManagerVersion();
 
-  if (Number(npmVersion.substr(0, 2)) < 7) {
+  if (packageManager !== 'npm') {
     throw Error(
-      `"npm run where" relies on npm@7 features, using npm@${npmVersion}. Update npm to 7 or use the command with --lerna-exec instead`,
+      `"npm run where" only supports npm, using ${packageManager}. Use the command with pnpm --filter or --lerna-exec instead`,
     );
   }
 
-  const workspaces = packages.map((name) => `--workspace=${name}`);
+  if (Number(packageManagerVersion.substr(0, 2)) < 7) {
+    throw Error(
+      `"npm run where" relies on npm@7 features, using npm@${packageManagerVersion}. Update npm to 7 or use the command with --lerna-exec instead`,
+    );
+  }
 
-  if (workspaces.length === 0) {
+  if (packages.length === 0) {
     console.info(`No packages matched filter "${expr}"`);
     return;
   }
 
   console.log();
   console.log(
-    'Running "npm %s" for the following packages:',
+    'Running "%s %s" for the following packages:',
+    packageManager,
     execCommandArgs.join(' '),
   );
   console.log();
   console.log(util.inspect(packages));
   console.log();
 
-  execFileSync('npm', [...workspaces, ...execCommandArgs], {
-    stdio: 'inherit',
+  runForWorkspaces({
+    workspaces: packages,
+    args: execCommandArgs,
   });
 }