denoland/deno · error

No target files found.

Error message

No target files found.

What it means

After collecting files for every workspace member, `deno lint` refuses to proceed when the matched set is empty and --permit-no-files was not passed. This is a deliberate guard against silently-successful runs where include/exclude patterns accidentally match nothing (especially in CI).

Source

Thrown at cli/tools/lint/mod.rs:248

  cli_options: &CliOptions,
  lint_flags: &LintFlags,
) -> Result<Vec<PathsWithOptions>, AnyError> {
  let members_lint_options =
    cli_options.resolve_lint_options_for_members(lint_flags)?;
  let mut paths_with_options_batches =
    Vec::with_capacity(members_lint_options.len());
  for (dir, lint_options) in members_lint_options {
    let files = collect_lint_files(cli_options, lint_options.files.clone());
    if !files.is_empty() {
      paths_with_options_batches.push(PathsWithOptions {
        dir,
        paths: files,
        options: lint_options,
      });
    }
  }
  if paths_with_options_batches.is_empty() && !lint_flags.permit_no_files {
    return Err(anyhow!("No target files found."));
  }
  Ok(paths_with_options_batches)
}

type WorkspaceModuleGraphFuture =
  SharedLocal<LocalBoxFuture<'static, Result<Rc<ModuleGraph>, Rc<AnyError>>>>;

struct WorkspaceLinter {
  caches: Arc<Caches>,
  lint_rule_provider: LintRuleProvider,
  module_graph_creator: Arc<ModuleGraphCreator>,
  compiler_options_resolver: Arc<CompilerOptionsResolver>,
  workspace_dir: Arc<WorkspaceDirectory>,
  reporter_lock: Arc<Mutex<Box<dyn LintReporter + Send>>>,
  workspace_module_graph: Option<WorkspaceModuleGraphFuture>,
  has_error: Arc<AtomicFlag>,
  file_count: usize,
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 89f33cbef2)

Solutions

1. Verify you are in the intended directory and that source files exist
2. Review the "lint": { "include": ..., "exclude": ... } block in deno.json and loosen patterns that exclude everything
3. For directories that may legitimately contain nothing to lint, pass --permit-no-files
4. Treat --permit-no-files as an explicit per-project decision, not a blanket default

Example fix

// deno.json before
"lint": { "include": ["src/**/*.ts"], "exclude": ["src"] }
// after
"lint": { "include": ["src/**/*.ts"] }

# fail with your own message before deno does
shopt -s globstar nullglob
files=(**/*.mts **/*.cts **/*.ts **/*.tsx **/*.js **/*.jsx)
if [ ${#files[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "no lintable files under $PWD — check lint include/exclude" >&2
  exit 2
fi
deno lint

When it happens

Trigger: `deno lint` in a tree with no matching JS/TS files; deno.json lint include/exclude patterns that filter out everything; running from a cwd whose glob base contains no sources.

Common situations: Fresh or generated repos with no sources yet; overly broad "exclude" entries; monorepo cwd confusion; CI templates linting directories that may legitimately be empty.

Related errors

• ${prefix}Linter plugin name must only contain lowercase lett
• Linter plugin ${plugin.name} has already been registered
• Unexpected 'name' field in options, bench name is already pr
• Unexpected second argument to Deno.bench()
• Unexpected third argument to Deno.bench()

AI-assisted analysis of denoland/deno@89f33cbef2 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f6f41ae5c1162fec. Report an issue: GitHub.