angular/angular-cli · info

NOTE: The "--dry-run" option means no changes were made.

Error message

NOTE: The "--dry-run" option means no changes were made.

What it means

In runSchematic, after a schematic executes with the --dry-run option, the CLI logs a warning clarifying that because dry-run mode was active no files were actually modified. This is informational, not a failure; the command returns 0.

Source

Thrown at packages/angular/cli/src/command-builder/schematics-command-module.ts:364

    const { unsubscribe, files } = subscribeToWorkflow(workflow, logger);

    try {
      await workflow
        .execute({
          collection: collectionName,
          schematic: schematicName,
          options: schematicOptions,
          logger,
          allowPrivate: this.allowPrivateSchematics,
        })
        .toPromise();

      if (!files.size) {
        logger.info('Nothing to be done.');
      }

      if (executionOptions.dryRun) {
        logger.warn(`\nNOTE: The "--dry-run" option means no changes were made.`);

        return 0;
      }

      if (files.size) {
        // Note: we could use a task executor to format the files but this is simpler.
        try {
          await formatFiles(this.context.root, files);
        } catch (error) {
          assertIsError(error);

          logger.warn(
            `WARNING: Formatting of files failed with the following error: ${error.message}`,
          );
        }
      }

      return 0;

View on GitHub (pinned to bb72145f9a)

Solutions

1. No fix needed — expected behavior. Re-run without `--dry-run` to apply the changes.
2. If changes should be applied in automation, remove the --dry-run flag from the command.

Example fix

// before (preview only)
ng g component hero --dry-run
// after (actually writes files)
ng g component hero

if (process.argv.includes('--dry-run') && autoApplyExpected) {
  console.warn('Refusing to run: --dry-run prevents file writes.');
  process.exit(1);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ng generate ... --dry-run` or `ng new --dry-run` where the schematic would have created/modified files (files.size > 0) but executionOptions.dryRun was true.

Common situations: Previewing a generator before committing changes (`ng g component --dry-run`); CI scripts that run schematics in dry-run mode to validate templates; users confused why nothing changed on disk.

Related errors

• schematicName cannot be undefined.
• The "not" keyword is not supported in JSON Schema.
• Could not find (/.angular.json)
• Unknown schematics built-in module '${id}' requested from sc
• A collection and schematic is required during execution.

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular-cli@bb72145f9a (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/11cf07c5f6216a71. Report an issue: GitHub.