doc: remove Corepack documentation page

[aduh95]

Following up on #57635, let's remove the page. Adding dont-land labels as a cautionary step to avoid 404 in case there are links in the wild to that page. Landing it on 24.x should be fine as long as it lands before 24.0.0.

[codecov]

Codecov Report

All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests ✅

Project coverage is 90.24%. Comparing base (af75d04) to head (ee8e115).
Report is 2 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

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##             main   #57663   +/-   ##
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  Coverage   90.23%   90.24%           
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  Files         630      630           
  Lines      185055   185055           
  Branches    36221    36222    +1     
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+ Hits       166984   166995   +11     
+ Misses      11043    11036    -7     
+ Partials     7028     7024    -4     

see 26 files with indirect coverage changes

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[trivikr]

Corepack is available in 24.x, and removal of documentation page will create confusion among its existing users. And they may not try experimental features of Node.js again.

The documentation page already links to npm package. We can update it to mention about upcoming removal in v25+ and remove the documentation in v25+.

[aduh95]

@trivikr you can add the dont-land label yourself. I wonder if we could get some data from analytics regarding how many folks use this page to know if it's actually relevant.

[MikeMcC399]

I would like to see the URL https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/corepack.html returning a useful short statement until Node.js 24.x reaches its EOL in April 2028. It seems inconsistent to remove the documentation page when the bundled content is still being shipped.

If I understood the impact of this PR correctly it would mean https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/corepack.html returns a 404 error after the release of Node.js 24.0.0 in April 2025. Even when Node.js 25.x is released I would still like to see a working placeholder under the latest URL which states that Corepack is no longer bundled. It could also still refer to the Corepack repo homepage https://github.com/nodejs/corepack#readme and to previous supported Node.js versions that bundle Corepack.

[aduh95]

It seems inconsistent to remove the documentation page when the bundled content is still being shipped.

That's debatable, we've never shipped any documentation for npm, having one for Corepack is arguably what's inconsistent.

[trivikr]

you can add the dont-land label yourself

I added dont-land-on-24.x. I think this PR can wait till v25 release in October 2025 or further.

Even when Node.js 25.x is released I would still like to see a working placeholder under the latest URL which states that Corepack is no longer bundled

That's true. There are links to corepack documentation in the wild which point to the latest version of the doc in Node.js. And whoever lands on that page should get to know how they can continue using corepack. A 404 page will lead to loss of trust in any experimental features which Node.js introduces (current and future).

[aduh95]

A 404 page will lead to loss of trust in any experimental features which Node.js introduces (current and future).

Would that be a bad thing? IMO users should not trust experimental features.

[trivikr]

IMO users should not trust experimental features.

It's the trust wrt communication, and it can apply to stable features too.

Explaining it with an example makes it clear:

• User A: Did you hear the news? Node.js is removing corepack from it's distribution! It helped me a lot in transparently managing my package manager version per project. Now I need to find a different way.
• User B: I know! But that's okay. You can always install corepack from npm, i.e. just replace corepack enable command with npm i -g corepack and it'll continue to work. Also, it's not going to be removed from v24 which is supported till 2028-04-30
• User A: Oh, that's good. My application won't move off v24 till v28 goes LTS in October 2027. I still have time before I need to search for alternatives. I trust that Node.js core team or ecosystem will provide in-built replacement by that time.

When v24 releases on 2025-04-22 with 404 for corepack documentation

• User A: Hey, you mentioned that Node.js v24 was still going to have corepack. But I get 404 when trying to visit its documentation.
• User B: Oh, that's because they removed the documentation as corepack was experimental. It is still shipped with Node.js though, and you can continue to set corepack enable.
• User A: I don't know man. I lost trust in Node.js. I've a feeling that they might remove corepack before the promised date. I should immediately switch to installing corepack from npm.

The action after losing trust can be any of the following:

• I should never try any experimental feature provided in Node.js core from now on. Let other folks try it, and get it to stability.
• I should never trust any communication provided by Node.js team.
• I should switch to alternative Server JavaScript runtime.

[aduh95]

When v24 releases on 2025-04-22 with 404 for corepack documentation

That's not going to happen though, this PR has the dont-land-on-v24.x PRs that should not land on the v18.x-staging branch and should not be released in v24.x. label

[trivikr]

I liked this suggestion from @MikeMcC399 after my vote though

Even when Node.js 25.x is released I would still like to see a working placeholder under the latest URL which states that Corepack is no longer bundled.

This will help folks landing on corepack documentation from links shared in the ecosystem.
Instead of removing this page for v25+, we can remove it later maybe:

• v26+ (the next LTS without corepack)
• v27+ (halfway through corepack availability dropped in supported version)
• v29+ (near the end of corepack availability dropped in supported version)

I think v27+ would be a good midway choice, but v26+ is also okay.
Maybe only v25 and v26 documentation can update documentation to state corepack is no longer bundled.
One year should be good enough for existing users to migrate.

[MikeMcC399]

• Hidden Node.js Corepack documentation / inconsistent links after Node.js v23.11.0 release #57708 has screenshots with some issues about the Corepack documentation that has changed due to the release of Node.js v23.11.0

Corepack has been removed from
https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/index.html but not from
https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/corepack.html