angular/angular-cli · error · InvalidCollectionJsonException

Collection JSON at path ${JSON.stringify(path)} is invalid.

Error message

Collection JSON at path ${JSON.stringify(path)} is invalid.

What it means

createCollectionDescription reads the resolved collection JSON file; if the parsed value is falsy, not an object, or an array, it throws InvalidCollectionJsonException with the file path. The file must be a JSON object describing the collection.

Source

Thrown at packages/angular_devkit/schematics/tools/file-system-engine-host-base.ts:165

  }

  registerContextTransform(t: ContextTransform): void {
    this._contextTransforms.push(t);
  }

  /**
   *
   * @param name
   * @return {{path: string}}
   */
  createCollectionDescription(
    name: string,
    requester?: FileSystemCollectionDesc,
  ): FileSystemCollectionDesc {
    const path = this._resolveCollectionPath(name, requester?.path);
    const jsonValue = readJsonFile(path);
    if (!jsonValue || typeof jsonValue != 'object' || Array.isArray(jsonValue)) {
      throw new InvalidCollectionJsonException(name, path);
    }

    // normalize extends property to an array
    if (typeof jsonValue['extends'] === 'string') {
      jsonValue['extends'] = [jsonValue['extends']];
    }

    const description = this._transformCollectionDescription(name, {
      ...jsonValue,
      path,
    });
    if (!description || !description.name) {
      throw new InvalidCollectionJsonException(name, path);
    }

    // Validate aliases.
    const allNames = Object.keys(description.schematics);
    for (const schematicName of Object.keys(description.schematics)) {

View on GitHub (pinned to bb72145f9a)

Solutions

1. Fix the collection.json at the printed path so it parses to a non-empty JSON object
2. Validate the JSON (e.g. node -e "require('<path>')") to catch syntax errors
3. Ensure the referenced package's package.json has a 'schematics' field pointing at the right collection file
4. Reinstall/repair the package if its files are truncated (rm -rf node_modules && npm i)

Example fix

// before (collection.json)
[]
// after (collection.json)
{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/@angular-devkit/schematics/collection-schema.json",
  "schematics": {
    "my-schematic": { "factory": "./my-schematic/index" }
  }
}

import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
function isValidCollectionJson(path: string): boolean {
  try {
    const v = JSON.parse(readFileSync(path, 'utf-8'));
    return !!v && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v);
  } catch { return false; }
}

function isCollectionObject(v: unknown): v is Record<string, unknown> {
  return typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v);
}

try {
  await workflow.execute({ collection, schematic });
} catch (e) {
  if (/Collection JSON at path .* is invalid/.test(String(e))) {
    const m = String(e).match(/at path (.+?) is invalid/);
    console.error(`Fix the collection file at ${m?.[1]}`);
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A collection.json (or package.json used as collection) that is empty, contains 'null'/'[]', is truncated/invalid such that readJsonFile returns null, or resolves to a wrong file via _resolveCollectionPath.

Common situations: Hand-edited or corrupted collection.json files; build pipelines emitting empty JSON; misconfigured package.json missing schematics metadata so the wrong file is read; merge conflicts left as invalid JSON.

Related errors

• Collection "${name}" does not have a schematics map.
• Option "project" is required.
• Project is not defined in this workspace.
• Targets are not defined for this project.
• Invalid file replacement: ${JSON.stringify(fileReplacement)}

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular-cli@bb72145f9a (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0514d49853472e70. Report an issue: GitHub.