denoland/deno · error

No deno.json or package.json in "{}".

Error message

No deno.json or package.json in "{}".

What it means

The dependency-listing path of the package manager (cli/tools/pm/list.rs) requires a deno.json or package.json in the start directory; `has_deno_or_pkg_json()` returned false. Without any manifest there are no dependencies to resolve, list, or update, so it fails fast with the inspected directory path.

Source

Thrown at cli/tools/pm/list.rs:330

      allow_remote: true,
      cache_setting: CacheSetting::RespectHeaders,
      download_log_level: log::Level::Trace,
      progress_bar: None,
    },
  );
  let file_fetcher = Arc::new(file_fetcher);
  let npm_fetch_resolver = Arc::new(NpmFetchResolver::new(
    file_fetcher.clone(),
    factory.npmrc()?.clone(),
    factory.npm_version_resolver()?.clone(),
  ));
  let jsr_fetch_resolver = Arc::new(JsrFetchResolver::new(
    file_fetcher.clone(),
    factory.jsr_version_resolver()?.clone(),
  ));

  if !cli_options.start_dir.has_deno_or_pkg_json() {
    bail!(
      "No deno.json or package.json in \"{}\".",
      cli_options.initial_cwd().display(),
    );
  }

  let args = DepManagerArgs {
    module_load_preparer: factory.module_load_preparer().await?.clone(),
    jsr_fetch_resolver,
    npm_fetch_resolver,
    npm_resolver: factory.npm_resolver().await?.clone(),
    npm_installer: factory.npm_installer().await?.clone(),
    npm_version_resolver: factory.npm_version_resolver()?.clone(),
    progress_bar: factory.text_only_progress_bar().clone(),
    permissions_container: factory.root_permissions_container()?.clone(),
    main_module_graph_container: factory
      .main_module_graph_container()
      .await?
      .clone(),

View on GitHub (pinned to 9ad36f7a2c)

Solutions

1. cd to the project root (or the directory containing deno.json/package.json) and re-run.
2. Initialize a manifest: `deno init` (deno.json) or `npm init` / create a minimal deno.json.
3. If the config lives elsewhere, point at it explicitly with `--config path/to/deno.json` from the current directory.

Example fix

# before (cwd has no config)
deno install
# after
cd /path/to/project-root
deno install
# or point at the config
deno install --config /path/to/project-root/deno.json

import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
if (!existsSync("deno.json") && !existsSync("deno.jsonc") && !existsSync("package.json")) {
  console.error(`no deno.json or package.json in ${process.cwd()}`);
  process.exit(1);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running a dependency command (e.g. `deno install` in its list/resolve flow) from a directory with no deno.json and no package.json — including subdirectories of the project that contain no config.

Common situations: Wrong terminal cwd (deep src/ subfolder); fresh projects not yet initialized; running inside a scratch folder; scripts that cd into temp dirs before invoking deno.

Related errors

• Failed to discover the newly created deno.json at "{}". This
• No deno.json found in current directory
• unsupported 'exports' shape in deno.json: expected a string
• Missing name in config
• Couldn't find a deno.json, deno.jsonc, jsr.json or jsr.jsonc

AI-assisted analysis of denoland/deno@9ad36f7a2c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a5ccf22340143c9f. Report an issue: GitHub.