angular/angular-cli · error · Error

No project name provided and no default project found in wor

Error message

No project name provided and no default project found in workspace path ${workspacePath}. Please provide a project name or set a default project in angular.json. You can use 'list_projects' to find available projects.

What it means

Thrown by resolveWorkspaceAndProject when no projectName was provided AND getDefaultProjectName(workspace) returned nothing, so no project can be inferred. The Angular CLI refuses to guess; the user must pass a project name or configure a default project in angular.json.

Source

Thrown at packages/angular/cli/src/commands/mcp/workspace-utils.ts:221

    } catch (e) {
      throw new Error(`Failed to load workspace configuration at ${configPath}.`, { cause: e });
    }
  }

  let projectName = projectNameInput;
  if (projectName) {
    if (!workspace.projects.has(projectName)) {
      throw new Error(
        `Project '${projectName}' not found in workspace path ${workspacePath}. ` +
          "You can use 'list_projects' to find available projects.",
      );
    }
  } else {
    projectName = getDefaultProjectName(workspace);
  }

  if (!projectName) {
    throw new Error(
      `No project name provided and no default project found in workspace path ${workspacePath}. ` +
        'Please provide a project name or set a default project in angular.json. ' +
        "You can use 'list_projects' to find available projects.",
    );
  }

  return { workspace, workspacePath, projectName };
}

View on GitHub (pinned to bb72145f9a)

Solutions

1. Pass an explicit projectName argument to the tool.
2. Add "defaultProject": "<name>" to angular.json, or set "default": true on a project.
3. Run list_projects to see which projects are available, then choose one.

Example fix

// before
{ "workspacePath": "/repo" }
// after
{ "workspacePath": "/repo", "projectName": "admin-app" }
// or in angular.json: "defaultProject": "admin-app"

const pkg = require('./angular.json');
if (!projectName && !pkg.defaultProject) {
  throw new Error('projectName required: workspace has no defaultProject');
}

function hasProjectArg(args: { projectName?: string }): args is { projectName: string } {
  return typeof args.projectName === 'string' && args.projectName.length > 0;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling an MCP tool with { workspacePath } (no projectName) on a workspace that has no default project: either 'defaultProject' is absent from angular.json (removed in modern Angular workspaces), no CLI builder project exists, or multiple projects with none marked default.

Common situations: New Angular 15+ workspaces where 'defaultProject' was dropped; multi-project monorepos; minimal libraries-only workspaces; automated scripts that omit projectName assuming a default exists.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Project '${projectName}' not found in workspace path ${works
• Option "project" is required.
• Unknown argument: configuration. Provide the configuration a
• Cannot determine project or target.
• Repository is not clean. Please commit or stash any changes

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular-cli@bb72145f9a (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0bf4f604101bc639. Report an issue: GitHub.