diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 33f213dbbaf4a..e8ea137460d65 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -387,14 +387,24 @@ $(foreach chart,$(charts),build/$(chart)_helm_$(VERSION).tgz): build/%_helm_$(VE
 		--chart $* \
 		--output "$@"
 
-site/out/index.html: site/package.json $(shell find ./site $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f \( -name '*.ts' -o -name '*.tsx' \))
+node_modules/.installed: package.json
+	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
+
+offlinedocs/node_modules/.installed: offlinedocs/package.json
+	cd offlinedocs
+	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
+
+site/node_modules/.installed: site/package.json
+	cd site
+	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
+
+site/out/index.html: site/node_modules/.installed $(shell find ./site $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f \( -name '*.ts' -o -name '*.tsx' \))
 	cd site
 	# prevents this directory from getting to big, and causing "too much data" errors
 	rm -rf out/assets/
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm build
 
-offlinedocs/out/index.html: $(shell find ./offlinedocs $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f) $(shell find ./docs $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f | sed 's: :\\ :g')
+offlinedocs/out/index.html: offlinedocs/node_modules/.installed $(shell find ./offlinedocs $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f) $(shell find ./docs $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f | sed 's: :\\ :g')
 	cd offlinedocs
 	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm export
@@ -427,7 +437,7 @@ fmt/go:
 		xargs -0 go run mvdan.cc/gofumpt@v0.4.0 -w -l
 .PHONY: fmt/go
 
-fmt/ts:
+fmt/ts: site/node_modules/.installed
 	echo "$(GREEN)==>$(RESET) $(BOLD)fmt/ts$(RESET)"
 	cd site
 # Avoid writing files in CI to reduce file write activity
@@ -438,7 +448,7 @@ else
 endif
 .PHONY: fmt/ts
 
-fmt/biome:
+fmt/biome: site/node_modules/.installed
 	echo "$(GREEN)==>$(RESET) $(BOLD)fmt/biome$(RESET)"
 	cd site
 # Avoid writing files in CI to reduce file write activity
@@ -464,9 +474,8 @@ else
 endif
 .PHONY: fmt/shfmt
 
-fmt/markdown:
+fmt/markdown: node_modules/.installed
 	echo "$(GREEN)==>$(RESET) $(BOLD)fmt/markdown$(RESET)"
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm format-docs
 .PHONY: fmt/markdown
 
@@ -477,7 +486,7 @@ lint/site-icons:
 	./scripts/check_site_icons.sh
 .PHONY: lint/site-icons
 
-lint/ts:
+lint/ts: site/node_modules/.installed
 	cd site
 	pnpm lint
 .PHONY: lint/ts
@@ -504,8 +513,7 @@ lint/helm:
 	make lint
 .PHONY: lint/helm
 
-lint/markdown:
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
+lint/markdown: node_modules/.installed
 	pnpm lint-docs
 .PHONY: lint/markdown
 
@@ -653,22 +661,19 @@ vpn/vpn.pb.go: vpn/vpn.proto
 		--go_opt=paths=source_relative \
 		./vpn/vpn.proto
 
-site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts: $(wildcard scripts/apitypings/*) $(shell find ./codersdk $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f -name '*.go')
+site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts: site/node_modules/.installed $(wildcard scripts/apitypings/*) $(shell find ./codersdk $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f -name '*.go')
 	# -C sets the directory for the go run command
 	go run -C ./scripts/apitypings main.go > $@
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write src/api/typesGenerated.ts
 
-site/e2e/provisionerGenerated.ts: provisionerd/proto/provisionerd.pb.go provisionersdk/proto/provisioner.pb.go
+site/e2e/provisionerGenerated.ts: site/node_modules/.installed provisionerd/proto/provisionerd.pb.go provisionersdk/proto/provisioner.pb.go
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm run gen:provisioner
 
-site/src/theme/icons.json: $(wildcard scripts/gensite/*) $(wildcard site/static/icon/*)
+site/src/theme/icons.json: site/node_modules/.installed $(wildcard scripts/gensite/*) $(wildcard site/static/icon/*)
 	go run ./scripts/gensite/ -icons "$@"
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write src/theme/icons.json
 
 examples/examples.gen.json: scripts/examplegen/main.go examples/examples.go $(shell find ./examples/templates)
@@ -686,46 +691,38 @@ codersdk/rbacresources_gen.go: scripts/typegen/codersdk.gotmpl scripts/typegen/m
 	go run scripts/typegen/main.go rbac codersdk > /tmp/rbacresources_gen.go
 	mv /tmp/rbacresources_gen.go codersdk/rbacresources_gen.go
 
-site/src/api/rbacresourcesGenerated.ts: scripts/typegen/codersdk.gotmpl scripts/typegen/main.go coderd/rbac/object.go coderd/rbac/policy/policy.go
+site/src/api/rbacresourcesGenerated.ts: site/node_modules/.installed scripts/typegen/codersdk.gotmpl scripts/typegen/main.go coderd/rbac/object.go coderd/rbac/policy/policy.go
 	go run scripts/typegen/main.go rbac typescript > "$@"
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write src/api/rbacresourcesGenerated.ts
 
-site/src/api/countriesGenerated.ts: scripts/typegen/countries.tstmpl scripts/typegen/main.go codersdk/countries.go
+site/src/api/countriesGenerated.ts: site/node_modules/.installed scripts/typegen/countries.tstmpl scripts/typegen/main.go codersdk/countries.go
 	go run scripts/typegen/main.go countries > "$@"
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write src/api/countriesGenerated.ts
 
-docs/admin/integrations/prometheus.md: scripts/metricsdocgen/main.go scripts/metricsdocgen/metrics
+docs/admin/integrations/prometheus.md: node_modules/.installed scripts/metricsdocgen/main.go scripts/metricsdocgen/metrics
 	go run scripts/metricsdocgen/main.go
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec markdownlint-cli2 --fix ./docs/admin/integrations/prometheus.md
 	pnpm exec markdown-table-formatter ./docs/admin/integrations/prometheus.md
 
-docs/reference/cli/index.md: scripts/clidocgen/main.go examples/examples.gen.json $(GO_SRC_FILES)
+docs/reference/cli/index.md: node_modules/.installed site/node_modules/.installed scripts/clidocgen/main.go examples/examples.gen.json $(GO_SRC_FILES)
 	CI=true BASE_PATH="." go run ./scripts/clidocgen
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec markdownlint-cli2 --fix ./docs/reference/cli/*.md
 	pnpm exec markdown-table-formatter ./docs/reference/cli/*.md
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write ../docs/manifest.json
 
-docs/admin/security/audit-logs.md: coderd/database/querier.go scripts/auditdocgen/main.go enterprise/audit/table.go coderd/rbac/object_gen.go
+docs/admin/security/audit-logs.md: node_modules/.installed coderd/database/querier.go scripts/auditdocgen/main.go enterprise/audit/table.go coderd/rbac/object_gen.go
 	go run scripts/auditdocgen/main.go
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec markdownlint-cli2 --fix ./docs/admin/security/audit-logs.md
 	pnpm exec markdown-table-formatter ./docs/admin/security/audit-logs.md
 
-coderd/apidoc/swagger.json: $(shell find ./scripts/apidocgen $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f) $(wildcard coderd/*.go) $(wildcard enterprise/coderd/*.go) $(wildcard codersdk/*.go) $(wildcard enterprise/wsproxy/wsproxysdk/*.go) $(DB_GEN_FILES) .swaggo docs/manifest.json coderd/rbac/object_gen.go
+coderd/apidoc/swagger.json: node_modules/.installed site/node_modules/.installed $(shell find ./scripts/apidocgen $(FIND_EXCLUSIONS) -type f) $(wildcard coderd/*.go) $(wildcard enterprise/coderd/*.go) $(wildcard codersdk/*.go) $(wildcard enterprise/wsproxy/wsproxysdk/*.go) $(DB_GEN_FILES) .swaggo docs/manifest.json coderd/rbac/object_gen.go
 	./scripts/apidocgen/generate.sh
-	./scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec markdownlint-cli2 --fix ./docs/reference/api/*.md
 	pnpm exec markdown-table-formatter ./docs/reference/api/*.md
 	cd site
-	../scripts/pnpm_install.sh
 	pnpm exec biome format --write ../docs/manifest.json ../coderd/apidoc/swagger.json
 
 update-golden-files: \
@@ -909,5 +906,5 @@ test-clean:
 .PHONY: test-clean
 
 .PHONY: test-e2e
-test-e2e:
+test-e2e: site/node_modules/.installed
 	cd ./site && DEBUG=pw:api pnpm playwright:test --forbid-only --workers 1
diff --git a/scripts/pnpm_install.sh b/scripts/pnpm_install.sh
index 0316c8cd8359c..b5a05bfc83e75 100755
--- a/scripts/pnpm_install.sh
+++ b/scripts/pnpm_install.sh
@@ -33,3 +33,6 @@ pnpm_flags+=("$@")
 
 echo "+ pnpm install ${pnpm_flags[*]}"
 pnpm install "${pnpm_flags[@]}"
+
+# Used for Makefile optimizations
+touch node_modules/.installed