Lerna error: package.json does not exist, have you run lerna init?

[artembatura]

I run lerna bootstrap

Current Behavior

> lerna bootstrap
lerna notice cli v3.8.0
lerna ERR! ENOPKG `package.json` does not exist, have you run `lerna init`?

Expected Behavior

Should work

Specs

lerna.json

{
  "version": "0.0.5-alpha.0",
  "packages": ["packages/*"],
  "npmClient": "yarn",
  "useWorkspaces": true
}

package.json

{
  "private": true,
  "workspaces": [
    "packages/*",
    "examples/*"
  ],
  "devDependencies": {
      "lerna": "^3.8.0"
  }
}

Executable	Version
lerna --version	3.8.0
npm --version	6.5.0
yarn --version	1.13.0
node --version	v11.4.0

OS	Version
Windows 10 x64	1703

[artembatura]

It's work if i add field name to package.json with value root

[artembatura]

It's strange behavior, because lerna in some projects works without field name in package.json :/

[evocateur]

You're using Yarn workspaces, why bother with lerna bootstrap at all? It's just calling yarn install.

[artembatura]

@evocateur I just started recently using monorepo architecture with lerna + yarn workspaces . I don't know how to better. I have no found best practices guides to get started with this technologies, therefore i just learned it by examples on Github. I would be glad if you would guide me on the right path ^^

[evocateur]

We should definitely improve the error message in this case, I agree.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[artembatura]

Up!

[christophercr]

I confirm that the solution mentioned by @artemirq works: adding a "name": "root" field to the package.json solves the issue.

And indeed, this error happens sometimes 😕

@evocateur do you foresee any fix for this problem?

[aalexgabi]

Same error when version field is missing in lerna.json

[jalovatt]

I've just started seeing this issue after upgrading a Yarn 2 project that's been working fine with Lerna to v4, but we already have the config options mentioned above as causing trouble if they're absent:

// lerna.json
{
  "packages": [
    "packages/*"
  ],
  "version": "independent",
  "npmClient": "yarn",
  "useWorkspaces": true
}

[artembatura]

@jalovatt Why you needed Lerna? Yarn contain most of functionality for working with workspaces.

[jalovatt]

@jalovatt Why you needed Lerna? Yarn contain most of functionality for working with workspaces.

That's what we ended up doing. Our biggest use for Lerna was the versioning tool, but yarn version check -i is close enough.

[MatriXiao88]

I confirm that the solution mentioned by @artemirq works: adding a "name": "root" field to the package.json solves the issue.

And indeed, this error happens sometimes 😕

@evocateur do you foresee any fix for this problem?

I think I find the exception reason.
Your project folder name, like Z2l0bGFiLmd6LmN2dGUuY24vc3NwYy9vcHMvc2VudHJ5LWphdmFzY3JpcHQuZ2l0LTQ3Mzk= , is incompatible with the package, named npm-package-arg, code here will throw an exception, and this.project.manifest will be undefined. Finally you will get this issue.

That will happen when you clone a repo and you specific invalid target folder name.

You can set valid name in package.json file to avoid this issue. See code here

[wpyoga]

@Rhuaer Yes, you are right. If the directory (folder) name is not a valid name as defined here, and "name": "root" property is missing, then this error will come up.

How to reproduce:

$ mkdir test-lerna@1
$ cd test-lerna@1
$ yarn add lerna
$ yarn lerna init

At this point, open package.json and remove the name property. Then:

$ yarn lerna bootstrap
yarn run v1.22.17
$ /home/william/Documents/wpyoga/test-lerna@1/node_modules/.bin/lerna bootstrap
lerna notice cli v4.0.0
lerna ERR! ENOPKG `package.json` does not exist, have you run `lerna init`?
error Command failed with exit code 1.
info Visit https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/run for documentation about this command.

Note that if the directory name is valid, then yarn lerna init won't create the name property at all, and yarn lerna bootstrap will still succeed.

So it seems to me that yarn lerna init knows that the directory name is invalid and proactively adds the name property with the value root. According to validate-npm-package-name, the directory name is an invalid npm package name:

> require('validate-npm-package-name')('test-lerna@1')
{
  validForNewPackages: false,
  validForOldPackages: false,
  errors: [ 'name can only contain URL-friendly characters' ]
}
> require('validate-npm-package-name')('test-lerna')
{ validForNewPackages: true, validForOldPackages: true }

I think it would be super helpful if lerna bootstrap can detect this fact and inform the user, so corrective actions can be taken.

I ran into this problem when I was making a patch for docusaurus, I made a branch for the commit and used a worktree directory named docusaurus@not-require-use-ssh. Eventually everything worked after I added the "name": "root" property to package.json .

[JamesHenry]

Hi Folks 👋

Please take a look at our published roadmap for Lerna v7 here: #3410

One of the key items covered at length on there (please do read it for full context) is that now that we find ourselves in late 2022, it no longer makes sense for lerna to supplement package management concerns (such as installation, boostrapping, linking etc) which are covered reliably for monorepo workspaces by the three main package managers: npm, yarn and pnpm. lerna bootstrap et al were developed in a completely different era of the JavaScript ecosystem.

If you have any specific concerns please do join in on that discussion, and provide as much context as possible.

Many thanks 🙏