diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index c207f2a68133..f02bc52220a8 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -662,10 +662,21 @@ jobs:
           # tracked changes) — without it, a duplicate user-agent line lands on master every
           # release and, being last in the file, overrides bit-repo-local for local installs too.
           # the flag lives in .git/index, so it survives persist_to_workspace into later jobs.
+          #
+          # storeDir moves the store — and with it the global virtual store at <storeDir>/<version>/links,
+          # which every node_modules entry symlinks into — under the persist_to_workspace root, so the
+          # later jobs that only attach the workspace get resolvable symlinks. pnpm's default store
+          # lives in ~/.local/share/pnpm, outside that root. it has to go in pnpm-workspace.yaml:
+          # .npmrc only carries npm-compatible settings, and store-dir there is silently ignored by
+          # the config reader bit installs through (see scopes/dependencies/pnpm/read-config.ts).
+          # the repo has no committed pnpm-workspace.yaml; info/exclude keeps this CI-only one from
+          # being picked up by anything that stages untracked files.
           command: >
             cd bit &&
             echo "user-agent=bit-repo-circleci" >> .npmrc &&
             git update-index --skip-worktree .npmrc &&
+            echo "storeDir: /home/circleci/bit/.pnpm-store" > pnpm-workspace.yaml &&
+            echo "pnpm-workspace.yaml" >> .git/info/exclude &&
             bbit install
       # `bbit install` compiles as part of the install, but that pass can fall back to the
       # default TypeScript compiler for components whose env is still being imported - notably
@@ -679,11 +690,24 @@ jobs:
       # - run: cd bit && ls -l node_modules/@babel
       # - run: cd bit && ls -l node_modules/@babel/cli/bin
       # - run: cd bit && ls -l node_modules/.bin
+      - run:
+          # a persist path that matches nothing is not an error, so without this check a store that
+          # landed outside the workspace root only shows up much later, as a MODULE_NOT_FOUND on a
+          # dangling node_modules symlink in whichever job runs first.
+          name: verify the global virtual store sits inside the persisted workspace
+          command: |
+            set -e
+            ls -d /home/circleci/bit/.pnpm-store/*/links
+            ls -l bit/node_modules/oxlint
+            test -e bit/node_modules/oxlint/bin/oxlint
       - persist_to_workspace:
           root: .
           paths:
             - bit
-            - .pnpm-store
+            # only the global virtual store, not the content-addressable files/ it hardlinks from:
+            # the consumers of this workspace read node_modules, they never fetch packages, and
+            # carrying files/ too would duplicate every package in the archive.
+            - .pnpm-store/*/links
       - store_artifacts:
           path: ~/Library/Caches/Bit/logs
       - store_artifacts:
diff --git a/mocha-multi-reporters-config.json b/mocha-multi-reporters-config.json
index 4501ddb97115..e524b539c00f 100644
--- a/mocha-multi-reporters-config.json
+++ b/mocha-multi-reporters-config.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-    "reporterEnabled": "spec, mocha-junit-reporter",
+    "reporterEnabled": "spec, ./node_modules/mocha-junit-reporter",
     "mochaJunitReporterReporterOptions": {
         "mochaFile": "${MOCHA_FILE}",
         "outputs": "true"
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5b4a1e27fe47..3a049af45c67 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -31,14 +31,14 @@
     "lint-full": "./scripts/validate-import-named-aspects.sh && ./scripts/validate-no-ramda.sh && node scripts/validate-pkg-exist-in-pkg-json.js && npm run lint",
     "format": "prettier \"{e2e,scopes,components}/**/*.{ts,js,jsx,css,scss,tsx,md,mdx}\" --write",
     "prettier:check": "prettier --list-different \"{e2e,scopes,components}/**/*.{ts,js,jsx,css,scss,tsx,md,mdx}\"",
-    "mocha-circleci": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS='--no-warnings --max-old-space-size=5000' registry-mock prepare && mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors --exit",
+    "mocha-circleci": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS='--no-warnings --max-old-space-size=5000' registry-mock prepare && mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter ./node_modules/mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors --exit",
     "e2e-test": "registry-mock prepare && cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-warnings mocha --require ./babel-register './e2e/**/*.e2e*.ts'",
     "e2e-test:debug": "npm run e2e-test --debug",
-    "e2e-test-circle": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS='--no-warnings --max-old-space-size=5000' mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors --exit './e2e/**/*.e2e*.ts'",
+    "e2e-test-circle": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS='--no-warnings --max-old-space-size=5000' mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter ./node_modules/mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors --exit './e2e/**/*.e2e*.ts'",
     "performance-test": "mocha --require ./babel-register ./e2e/performance/*.performance*.ts",
     "performance-test:debug": "npm run performance-test --debug",
-    "performance-test-circle": "mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors ./e2e/performance/*.performance*.ts",
-    "bit-hub-test-circle": "mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors ./e2e/bit-hub/*.ts",
+    "performance-test-circle": "mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter ./node_modules/mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors ./e2e/performance/*.performance*.ts",
+    "bit-hub-test-circle": "mocha --require ./babel-register --reporter ./node_modules/mocha-multi-reporters --reporter-options configFile=mocha-multi-reporters-config.json --colors ./e2e/bit-hub/*.ts",
     "clean-node-modules": "find . -type d -name node_modules -prune -exec rm -rf '{}' +",
     "setup": "bit install &&  bit compile",
     "full-setup": "rm -rf node_modules/.bin/bit && bit install && husky && bit compile",
diff --git a/workspace.jsonc b/workspace.jsonc
index af7d6ab5a9ec..db55391f7978 100644
--- a/workspace.jsonc
+++ b/workspace.jsonc
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     "resolveEnvsFromRoots": true
   },
   "teambit.dependencies/dependency-resolver": {
+    "enableGlobalVirtualStore": true,
     "allowScripts": {
       "@apollo/protobufjs": true,
       "@parcel/watcher": true,