fix: convert NPM_CONFIG env vars to CLI args in rush-pnpm to prevent npm warnings

In RushPnpmCommandLineParser._executeAsync(), replace NPM_CONFIG_*
environment variables (STORE_DIR, CACHE_DIR, STATE_DIR, WORKSPACE_DIR)
with pnpm CLI arguments (--store-dir, --config.cacheDir, --config.stateDir,
--config.workspaceDir). This prevents these pnpm-specific configuration
values from leaking to npm when pnpm internally delegates to npm libraries
(e.g. during publish operations), which caused "Unknown env config" warnings.

This approach is consistent with how BaseInstallManager already passes
these values via CLI args during rush install/update.

Fixes #5704

Co-authored-by: iclanton <5010588+iclanton@users.noreply.github.com>
Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/microsoft/rushstack/sessions/c306dd18-490c-4a52-a3ca-3447740f7280

Author: Copilot

common/changes/@microsoft/rush/fix-rush-pnpm-npm-config-warnings_2026-03-23-18-16.json

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "changes": [
+    {
+      "packageName": "@microsoft/rush",
+      "comment": "Fix \"Unknown env config\" warnings from npm during rush-pnpm operations (e.g. publish) by passing pnpm configuration via CLI args instead of NPM_CONFIG_* environment variables.",
+      "type": "none"
+    }
+  ],
+  "packageName": "@microsoft/rush"
+}

libraries/rush-lib/src/cli/RushPnpmCommandLineParser.ts

@@ -432,12 +432,16 @@ export class RushPnpmCommandLineParser {
     const rushConfiguration: RushConfiguration = this._rushConfiguration;
     const workspaceFolder: string = this._subspace.getSubspaceTempFolderPath();
     const pnpmEnvironmentMap: EnvironmentMap = new EnvironmentMap(process.env);
-    pnpmEnvironmentMap.set('NPM_CONFIG_WORKSPACE_DIR', workspaceFolder);
+
+    // Pass pnpm configuration as CLI args rather than NPM_CONFIG_* environment variables.
+    // Using env vars like NPM_CONFIG_STORE_DIR would cause "Unknown env config" warnings
+    // when pnpm internally delegates to npm (e.g. during publish operations).
+    const pnpmConfigArgs: string[] = [`--config.workspaceDir=${workspaceFolder}`];
 
     if (rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath) {
-      pnpmEnvironmentMap.set('NPM_CONFIG_STORE_DIR', rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath);
-      pnpmEnvironmentMap.set('NPM_CONFIG_CACHE_DIR', rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath);
-      pnpmEnvironmentMap.set('NPM_CONFIG_STATE_DIR', rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath);
+      pnpmConfigArgs.push(`--store-dir=${rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath}`);
+      pnpmConfigArgs.push(`--config.cacheDir=${rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath}`);
+      pnpmConfigArgs.push(`--config.stateDir=${rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.pnpmStorePath}`);
     }
 
     if (rushConfiguration.pnpmOptions.environmentVariables) {
@@ -473,7 +477,7 @@ export class RushPnpmCommandLineParser {
     try {
       const { exitCode } = await Utilities.executeCommandAsync({
         command: rushConfiguration.packageManagerToolFilename,
-        args: this._pnpmArgs,
+        args: [...pnpmConfigArgs, ...this._pnpmArgs],
         workingDirectory: process.cwd(),
         environment: pnpmEnvironmentMap.toObject(),
         keepEnvironment: true,