cypress-io/cypress · error · SchematicsException

projects in angular.json is not defined

Error message

projects in angular.json is not defined

What it means

Raised by modifyAngularJson() during `ng add @cypress/schematic` when angular.json exists and was parsed, but its top-level `projects` key is missing or falsy. The schematic iterates Object.keys(projects) to add cypress-run/cypress-open (and optionally e2e/ct) targets per project, so without that key it cannot proceed and aborts with a SchematicsException.

Source

Thrown at npm/cypress-schematic/src/schematics/ng-add/index.ts:229

  if (component) {
    projectArchitectJson['ct'] = componentJson
  }

  if (e2e || !projectArchitectJson['e2e']) {
    projectArchitectJson['e2e'] = e2eJson
  }

  return tree.overwrite('./angular.json', JSON.stringify(angularJsonVal, null, 2))
}

function modifyAngularJson (options: any): Rule {
  return (tree: Tree, context: SchematicContext) => {
    if (tree.exists('./angular.json')) {
      const angularJsonVal = getAngularJsonValue(tree)
      const { projects } = angularJsonVal

      if (!projects) {
        throw new SchematicsException('projects in angular.json is not defined')
      }

      Object.keys(projects).forEach((project) => {
        const builder = '@cypress/schematic:cypress'
        const runJson = {
          builder,
          options: {
            devServerTarget: `${project}:serve`,
          },
          configurations: {
            production: {
              devServerTarget: `${project}:serve:production`,
            },
          },
        }

        const openJson = {
          builder,

View on GitHub (pinned to 0d85fdc912)

Solutions

1. Open angular.json and ensure it has a top-level `projects` object listing at least one project (the standard Angular CLI shape).
2. If the workspace is not a real Angular CLI workspace, create one with `ng new` or run the schematic from the directory that actually holds angular.json.
3. Run `ng add @cypress/schematic` from the project root where the well-formed angular.json lives.
4. Validate angular.json with `ng config` or by running any standard `ng generate` command to confirm Angular accepts it.

Example fix

// before: angular.json has no "projects" key
// after:
{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/@angular/cli/lib/config/schema.json",
  "version": 1,
  "newProjectRoot": "projects",
  "projects": {
    "app": { /* ... */ }
  }
}

import { getAngularJsonValue } from '../../utils'

function assertHasProjects(tree: Tree) {
  const { projects } = getAngularJsonValue(tree)
  if (!projects) {
    throw new Error('angular.json is missing a top-level "projects" object')
  }
  return projects
}

function hasProjects(json: any): json is { projects: Record<string, unknown> } {
  return Boolean(json && typeof json === 'object' && json.projects && typeof json.projects === 'object')
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ng add @cypress/schematic` in a workspace whose angular.json has no `projects` field — e.g. a hand-edited or partially generated angular.json, a non-Angular workspace with a stray angular.json, or a malformed JSON where projects was deleted.

Common situations: A workspace not created with `ng new`; manual edits that removed projects; an Angular CLI version that wrote an unexpected angular.json shape; a monorepo where the real Angular workspace lives in a subdirectory.

Related errors

• angular.json not found
• Invalid project name: ${options.project}
• File not found.
• Invalid project name: ${options.project}
• No file name specified. This is required to generate a new C

AI-assisted analysis of cypress-io/cypress@0d85fdc912 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/762e315456533df4. Report an issue: GitHub.