angular/angular-cli · error · Error

Could not find workspace.

Error message

Could not find ${level} workspace.

What it means

The Angular CLI's setAnalyticsConfig writes analytics settings into the 'cli' extensions of a workspace config file. Before writing, it resolves the workspace at the requested config level (global ~/.angular-config or local ./angular.json). If no config file exists at that level, it throws this error because there is nowhere to store the setting.

Solutions

1. cd into the root of your Angular project before running analytics commands
2. Create the global config if needed: 'ng config --global cli.analytics false' or touch ~/.angular-config.json
3. Run from the directory containing angular.json, not a sibling folder
4. If using npm/npx, ensure the working directory is the workspace before invoking the CLI

Example fix

// before (run in ~/scripts, outside any project)
ng analytics disable
// after
cd ~/my-app && ng analytics disable

import { existsSync } from 'fs';
import { homedir } from 'os';
import { join } from 'path';

function workspaceConfigExists(global: boolean): boolean {
  return global
    ? existsSync(join(homedir(), '.angular-config'))
    : existsSync(join(process.cwd(), 'angular.json'));
}
if (!workspaceConfigExists(global)) {
  // skip the call or create the config first
}

try {
  await setAnalyticsConfig(global, value);
} catch (e) {
  if ((e as Error).message.includes('Could not find')) {
    logger.warn(`No ${global ? 'global' : 'local'} workspace config; skipping analytics setting.`);
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling setAnalyticsConfig(true, ...) with no global config file, or setAnalyticsConfig(false, ...) while not inside an Angular project directory (no angular.json/.angular.json), e.g. via 'ng analytics' commands that persist settings.

Common situations: Running 'ng analytics disable' outside a project; running in a CI container where HOME points somewhere without a global Angular config; running from a subdirectory outside the workspace root.

Related errors

• Cannot retrieve cache configuration as workspace is not…
• Confguration file cannot be found.
• Could not find a workspace. Are you in a project?
• Workspace config file cannot be loaded
• A builder is not set for target

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular-cli@bb72145f9a (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/342d8985d981861d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/angular/cli/src/analytics/analytics.ts:49

  return analyticsPackageSafelist.some((pattern) => {
    if (typeof pattern == 'string') {
      return pattern === name;
    } else {
      return pattern.test(name);
    }
  });
}

/**
 * Set analytics settings. This does not work if the user is not inside a project.
 * @param global Which config to use. "global" for user-level, and "local" for project-level.
 * @param value Either a user ID, true to generate a new User ID, or false to disable analytics.
 */
export async function setAnalyticsConfig(global: boolean, value: string | boolean): Promise<void> {
  const level = global ? 'global' : 'local';
  const workspace = await getWorkspace(level);
  if (!workspace) {
    throw new Error(`Could not find ${level} workspace.`);
  }

  const cli = (workspace.extensions['cli'] ??= {});
  if (!workspace || !json.isJsonObject(cli)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid config found at ${workspace.filePath}. CLI should be an object.`);
  }

  cli.analytics = value === true ? randomUUID() : value;
  await workspace.save();
}

/**
 * Prompt the user for usage gathering permission.
 * @param force Whether to ask regardless of whether or not the user is using an interactive shell.
 * @return Whether or not the user was shown a prompt.
 */
export async function promptAnalytics(
  context: CommandContext,

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