diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0dc376ca..9fd5d4ff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -259,6 +259,8 @@ For templates (experimental):
 pnpm exec pkg-pr-new publish './packages/A' --template './examples/*'
 ```
 
+`catalog:` and `catalog:<name>` dependencies in a template's `package.json` are resolved from the nearest `pnpm-workspace.yaml`, so templates can use [pnpm catalogs](https://pnpm.io/catalogs).
+
 **`--no-template`**
 
 By default, pkg.pr.new will generate a template called "default" which includes each built package in the dependencies. This can be disabled with `--no-template`.
diff --git a/packages/cli/catalog.test.ts b/packages/cli/catalog.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..60972221
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/catalog.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import type { PackageJson } from "pkg-types";
+import { resolveCatalogs } from "./catalog";
+
+describe("resolveCatalogs", () => {
+  let workspaceDir: string;
+  let templateDir: string;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    workspaceDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "pkg-pr-new-"));
+    templateDir = path.join(workspaceDir, "templates", "example");
+    await fs.mkdir(templateDir, { recursive: true });
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await fs.rm(workspaceDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  const writeWorkspace = (contents: string) =>
+    fs.writeFile(path.join(workspaceDir, "pnpm-workspace.yaml"), contents);
+
+  it("resolves the default catalog", async () => {
+    await writeWorkspace("catalog:\n  vite: ^6.0.0\n");
+    const pJson: PackageJson = { devDependencies: { vite: "catalog:" } };
+
+    await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
+    expect(pJson.devDependencies).toEqual({ vite: "^6.0.0" });
+  });
+
+  it("resolves catalog:default from catalogs.default", async () => {
+    await writeWorkspace("catalogs:\n  default:\n    vite: ^6.0.0\n");
+    const pJson: PackageJson = {
+      dependencies: { vite: "catalog:default" },
+      devDependencies: { vite: "catalog:" },
+    };
+
+    await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
+    expect(pJson.dependencies).toEqual({ vite: "^6.0.0" });
+    expect(pJson.devDependencies).toEqual({ vite: "^6.0.0" });
+  });
+
+  it("resolves named catalogs in every dependency field", async () => {
+    await writeWorkspace(
+      [
+        "catalog:",
+        "  vue: ^3.5.0",
+        "catalogs:",
+        "  react18:",
+        "    react: ^18.3.1",
+        "    react-dom: ^18.3.1",
+        "  tooling:",
+        "    typescript: ~5.7.0",
+        "",
+      ].join("\n"),
+    );
+    const pJson: PackageJson = {
+      dependencies: { react: "catalog:react18", vue: "catalog:" },
+      devDependencies: { typescript: "catalog:tooling" },
+      peerDependencies: { "react-dom": "catalog:react18" },
+      optionalDependencies: { vue: "catalog:" },
+    };
+
+    await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
+    expect(pJson).toEqual({
+      dependencies: { react: "^18.3.1", vue: "^3.5.0" },
+      devDependencies: { typescript: "~5.7.0" },
+      peerDependencies: { "react-dom": "^18.3.1" },
+      optionalDependencies: { vue: "^3.5.0" },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("keeps specifiers that are not resolvable from a catalog", async () => {
+    await writeWorkspace("catalog:\n  vite: ^6.0.0\n");
+    const dependencies = {
+      vue: "catalog:",
+      react: "catalog:missing",
+      lodash: "^4.17.21",
+      "my-lib": "workspace:*",
+    };
+    const pJson: PackageJson = { dependencies: { ...dependencies } };
+
+    await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
+    expect(pJson.dependencies).toEqual(dependencies);
+  });
+
+  it("does nothing without a pnpm workspace", async () => {
+    const pJson: PackageJson = { devDependencies: { vite: "catalog:" } };
+
+    await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
+    expect(pJson.devDependencies).toEqual({ vite: "catalog:" });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/cli/catalog.ts b/packages/cli/catalog.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..898f7a3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/catalog.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import { parseYAML } from "confbox";
+import { findNearestFile, type PackageJson } from "pkg-types";
+
+type Catalog = Record<string, string>;
+type Catalogs = Record<string, Catalog | undefined>;
+
+interface PnpmWorkspace {
+  catalog?: Catalog;
+  catalogs?: Catalogs;
+}
+
+const CATALOG_PROTOCOL = "catalog:";
+
+const dependencyFields = [
+  "dependencies",
+  "devDependencies",
+  "peerDependencies",
+  "optionalDependencies",
+] as const;
+
+export async function resolveCatalogs(dir: string, pJson: PackageJson) {
+  const catalogs = await readCatalogs(dir);
+  if (!catalogs) {
+    return;
+  }
+  for (const field of dependencyFields) {
+    const deps = pJson[field];
+    if (!deps) {
+      continue;
+    }
+    for (const [name, spec] of Object.entries(deps)) {
+      const version = resolveCatalogSpec(catalogs, name, spec);
+      if (version) {
+        deps[name] = version;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+async function readCatalogs(dir: string): Promise<Catalogs | null> {
+  const workspacePath = await findNearestFile("pnpm-workspace.yaml", {
+    startingFrom: dir,
+  }).catch(() => null);
+  if (!workspacePath) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const { catalog, catalogs } =
+    parseYAML<PnpmWorkspace | null>(await fs.readFile(workspacePath, "utf8")) ??
+    {};
+  return { ...catalogs, default: catalog ?? catalogs?.default };
+}
+
+function resolveCatalogSpec(catalogs: Catalogs, name: string, spec: string) {
+  if (!spec.startsWith(CATALOG_PROTOCOL)) {
+    return;
+  }
+  const catalogName = spec.slice(CATALOG_PROTOCOL.length).trim() || "default";
+  return catalogs[catalogName]?.[name];
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/index.ts b/packages/cli/index.ts
index 7708bbfc..81ae9baa 100644
--- a/packages/cli/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/index.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { isBinaryFile } from "isbinaryfile";
 import { writePackageJSON, type PackageJson } from "pkg-types";
 import pkg from "./package.json" with { type: "json" };
 import { createDefaultTemplate } from "./template";
+import { resolveCatalogs } from "./catalog";
 import * as core from "@actions/core";
 
 declare global {
@@ -535,6 +536,8 @@ const main = defineCommand({
 
             console.warn("preparing template:", pJson.name);
 
+            await resolveCatalogs(templateDir, pJson);
+
             const restore = await writeDeps(
               templateDir,
               pJsonContents,
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 27db09ba..d9f5d318 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     "@jsdevtools/ez-spawn": "^3.0.4",
     "@pkg-pr-new/utils": "workspace:^",
     "citty": "^0.1.6",
+    "confbox": "^0.2.4",
     "ignore": "^7.0.5",
     "isbinaryfile": "5.0.2",
     "nanotar": "^0.3.0",
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index fafc2e89..ae61124b 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -387,6 +387,9 @@ importers:
       citty:
         specifier: ^0.1.6
         version: 0.1.6
+      confbox:
+        specifier: ^0.2.4
+        version: 0.2.4
       ignore:
         specifier: ^7.0.5
         version: 7.0.5