dotnet/aspnetcore · error · Error

The default package version was not provided.

Error message

The default package version was not provided.

What it means

applyVersions in update-dependency-versions.mjs requires a non-empty defaultPackageVersion; it is used to stamp every public workspace package's version and to derive dependency version ranges ('>=<version>'). Without it the versioning step cannot run.

Source

Thrown at eng/scripts/npm/update-dependency-versions.mjs:18

import path from 'path';
import { execSync } from 'child_process';
import fs from 'fs-extra';

export function applyVersions(defaultPackageVersion, workspacePath) {
  // Get the workspace package.json from the provided path
  const workspacePackage = fs.readJsonSync(workspacePath);

  // Get the workspace directory
  const workspaceDir = path.dirname(workspacePath);

  // Validate and throw if the arguments are not provided
  if (!workspacePath) {
    throw new Error('The workspace path was not provided.');
  }

  if (!defaultPackageVersion) {
    throw new Error('The default package version was not provided.');
  }

  const packages = workspacePackage.workspaces;
  const packagesToPack = [];
  for (const pkg of packages) {
    const packagePath = path.resolve(workspaceDir, pkg, 'package.json');
    const packageJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(packagePath, 'utf-8'));
    if (!packageJson.private) {
      packagesToPack.push([packagePath, packageJson]);
    } else {
      console.log(`Skipping ${packageJson.name} because it is marked as private.`);
    }
  }

  // For each package to be packed, run npm version to apply the version
  var renames = applyPackageVersion(packagesToPack, defaultPackageVersion);

  updateDependencyVersions(packagesToPack);

View on GitHub (pinned to 3600ca084e)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-empty default package version into pack-workspace.mjs (argv[4]).
2. Ensure the MSBuild/CI property supplying the version is populated before the pack target runs.
3. Add a precondition check in the build target that the version property is set.

Example fix

// before
applyVersions('', workspacePath);
// after
applyVersions('8.0.0', workspacePath);

if (!defaultPackageVersion) {
    throw new Error('The default package version was not provided.');
}

const isVersion = (s) => typeof s === 'string' && /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/.test(s);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling applyVersions(defaultPackageVersion, workspacePath) with defaultPackageVersion empty/undefined (update-dependency-versions.mjs:17-19). Unlike the workspacePath guard this check runs after readJsonSync, but defaultPackageVersion is not used until later so the guard is reachable.

Common situations: The build property feeding the package version (e.g. $(Version)) was empty when pack-workspace.mjs invoked applyVersions; the CI pipeline did not set a build number.

Related errors

• The default package version was not provided.
• The workspace path was not provided.
• The package output path was not provided.
• The intermediate output path was not provided.
• The action ${action} is not supported.

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/aspnetcore@3600ca084e (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb38a10be4f3d51f. Report an issue: GitHub.