balderdashy/sails · warning

Are you sure this is a Sails app?

Error message

Are you sure this is a Sails app?

What it means

Second line of the `noPackageJSON` warning (errors/warn.js:39), asking whether the current directory is really a Sails app. It follows the 'Cannot read package.json' line and prompts the developer to verify they are in a valid Sails project root.

Source

Thrown at errors/warn.js:39

    log.warn('Trying to lift app using a local copy of `sails`');
    log.warn('(located in ' + nodepath.resolve(process.cwd(), 'node_modules/sails') + ')');
    log.warn();
    log.warn('But the package.json in the current directory indicates a dependency');
    log.warn('on Sails `' + requiredVersion + '`, and the locally installed Sails is `' + localVersion + '`!');
    log.warn();
    log.warn('If you run into compatibility issues, try installing ' + requiredVersion + ' locally:');
    log.warn('    $ npm install sails@' + requiredVersion);
    log.warn();
    log.blank();
  },



  // Verbose-only warnings:

  noPackageJSON: function() {
    log.warn('Cannot read package.json in the current directory (' + process.cwd() + ')');
    log.warn('Are you sure this is a Sails app?');
    log.warn();
  },

  notSailsApp: function() {
    log.warn('The package.json in the current directory does not list Sails as a dependency...');
    log.warn('Are you sure `' + process.cwd() + '` is a Sails app?');
    log.warn();
  },

  badLocalDependency: function(pathToLocalSails, requiredVersion) {
    log.warn(
      'The local Sails dependency installed at `' + pathToLocalSails + '` ' +
      'has a corrupted, missing, or un-parsable package.json file.'
    );
    log.warn('You may consider running:');
    log.warn('rm -rf ' + pathToLocalSails + ' && npm install sails@' + requiredVersion);
    log.warn();
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 7b76422cc2)

Solutions

1. Verify the directory contains a Sails app (package.json with sails dependency + app.js + config/) and cd there before lifting.
2. Restore the missing package.json from version control (`git checkout -- package.json`).
3. If this is meant to be a Sails app, scaffold or re-init: `sails new .` or `npm install sails`.

Example fix

// before
~/tmp$ sails lift
// after
cd ~/projects/my-sails-app && sails lift

const fs = require('fs');
const isSailsRoot = fs.existsSync('./package.json') && fs.existsSync('./config') && fs.existsSync('./app.js');
if (!isSailsRoot) {
  console.error('This does not look like a Sails app root; cd into the app directory.');
  process.exit(1);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Same as errorIndex 105: `sails lift` executed where package.json cannot be read in process.cwd().

Common situations: Accidentally lifting in a scratch/empty directory; the app lives in a subdirectory (e.g. api/ or a nested workspace); package.json was gitignored or removed by a cleanup script.

Related errors

• The package.json in the current directory does not list Sail
• But the package.json in the current directory indicates a de
• Cannot read package.json in the current directory (CWD)
• Cannot call res.render() - `req._sails.renderView` was not a
• The 2-ary usage of `res.redirect()` is no longer supported i

AI-assisted analysis of balderdashy/sails@7b76422cc2 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/281e77734d99122a. Report an issue: GitHub.