The local Sails dependency installed at `${pathToLocalSails}

Error message

The local Sails dependency installed at `${pathToLocalSails}` has a corrupted, missing, or un-parsable package.json file.

What it means

First line of the `badLocalDependency` warning in errors/warn.js:50. The local Sails copy installed at pathToLocalSails (typically node_modules/sails) exists but its package.json is corrupted, missing, or unparsable, so Sails cannot read its version. Usually a symptom of a broken or interrupted npm install.

Source

Thrown at errors/warn.js:50



  // 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

Run the suggested fix: `rm -rf node_modules/sails && npm install sails@<requiredVersion>`.
If problems persist, wipe everything: `rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json && npm install`.
Check disk space and re-run the install without interruption; verify with `node -e "require('./node_modules/sails/package.json')"`.
Restore node_modules from a clean CI cache or reinstall via the lockfile (`npm ci`).

Example fix

// before (terminal, broken install)
sails lift
// after
rm -rf node_modules/sails && npm install sails@^1.5.0
sails lift

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const fs = require('fs');
try {
  JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./node_modules/sails/package.json', 'utf8'));
} catch (e) {
  console.error('node_modules/sails/package.json unreadable; run: rm -rf node_modules/sails && npm install sails');
  process.exit(1);
}

Try / catch

// When programmatic recovery is needed (sailsctl-like scripts):
try {
  const sailsPkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(localSailsPath + '/package.json', 'utf8'));
  if (!sailsPkg.version) throw new Error('sails package.json has no version');
} catch (err) {
  execSync(`rm -rf ${localSailsPath} && npm install sails@${requiredVersion}`, { stdio: 'inherit' });
}

Prevention

Don't kill npm installs midway; ensure enough disk space before installing.
Prefer `npm ci` in CI for clean, atomic installs from the lockfile.
Never manually edit or delete files inside node_modules.
Re-verify installs after copying projects between machines or containers.

When it happens

Trigger: `sails lift` encounters node_modules/sails without a readable package.json — e.g. a partial install, disk-full during install, manual deletion inside node_modules, a git merge that clobbered files, or a symlinked/docked node_modules missing that file.

Common situations: Killed `npm install` mid-run; copying node_modules between machines/containers incompletely; antivirus or cleanup tools stripping files; low disk space during CI install steps.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of balderdashy/sails@7b76422cc2 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e22dc172b7ea60e0. Report an issue: GitHub.