Project references are not picked up (1)

[OliverJAsh]

• VSCode Version: 1.38.0
• OS Version: 10.14.6
• TypeScript version: tested with both 3.5.2 and 3.6.2

Steps to Reproduce:

./tsconfig-src.json:

{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "composite": true,
        "declarationMap": true,
        "outDir": "./target/",
        "baseUrl": "./src/"
    },
    "include": ["./src/**/*"]
}

./tsconfig.json:

{
    "references": [{ "path": "./tsconfig-src.json" }],
    "files": []
}

./src/main.ts:

import { foo } from 'helpers/functions';

foo;

./src/helpers/functions.ts:

export const foo = 1;

When I run tsc --build, it builds with no errors.

When I navigate to a TS file in VS Code, e.g. ./src/main.ts, I get errors: Cannot find module 'helpers/functions'

I expected this to work because VS Code would find the ./tsconfig.json in the parent/root directory, and this references ./tsconfig-src.json (the TS project which includes the file I'm looking at: ./src/main.ts).

Repo including the above test case: https://github.com/OliverJAsh/unsplash-ts-project-references

I understand I could workaround this by moving ./tsconfig-src.json into the ./src/ folder at ./src/tsconfig.json, but I believe that shouldn't be necessary.

What's more, in my real world application the ./tsconfig-src.json includes files in multiple root folders (./src/, ./client/, ./server/), not just ./src/, so this workaround wouldn't help in that case. For an example, see https://github.com/OliverJAsh/unsplash-ts-project-references/tree/bad-workaround.

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

Potentially related:

• Allow to specify the tsconfig.json filename explicitly  #12463
• Project references are not picked up (1) #80423
• TypeScript: aggregate errors for file from all projects TypeScript#20185
• Find references even when TypeScript sub-projects not yet open TypeScript#30823
• [WIP] Open bigger set of configured projects when opening composite project for operations that operate over multiple projects like rename TypeScript#28261
• For editing experience, use source instead of .d.ts files from project references TypeScript#32028

[andrewbranch]

@OliverJAsh did you run a tsc -b first? At the moment, declaration files need to be written to disk in order for TS Server to know about symbols from referenced projects. (Changing that is in-progress, targeted for 3.7.)

(I also find that after doing a build from the command line, sometimes I still need to restart TS Server to see the results in VS Code.)

[OliverJAsh]

I did all of those things, unfortunately to no avail. I even checked the TS server log to see if I could spot anything particularly odd, also to no avail.

[andrewbranch]

@OliverJAsh hold on, helpers/functions refers to something inside node_modules (or a path mapping, of which you have none in the sample you posted). I think you meant to use a relative path, unless I missed an important piece somewhere?

[OliverJAsh]

baseUrl is what holds it together here. It works if you don't use project references. Same example but without project references: https://github.com/OliverJAsh/unsplash-ts-project-references/tree/no-project-references

[OliverJAsh]

The more I play with project references, the more it seems like they simply don't work with VS Code. Here's a similar but separate issue I just filed: #80438.

[mjbvz]

@OliverJAsh In your example, src/main is not part of any project known to VS Code (just run TypeScript: Go to project configuration with the file open to check this) It is only part of the tsconfig-src.json project, which VS Code does not load automatically. We currently only load projects in files called tsconfig.json

In tsconfig.json, if I change files to "files": ["src/main.ts"] then everything seems to work

Closing this as a configuration question. microsoft/TypeScript#33094 would let you specify other config file names instead of tsconfig.json

[OliverJAsh]

It is only part of the tsconfig-src.json project, which VS Code does not load automatically

Correct, but tsconfig.json references tsconfig-src.json. So if VS Code discovers tsconfig.json, why does not it pick up the referenced project? I thought this was the whole point of TS project references.

[mjbvz]

Good point. I was having trouble understanding what the intention was in the example.

This looks like another case of microsoft/TypeScript#30823 then. If you don't think this is the case, please open a new issue against TypeScript