dotnet/aspnetcore · error · Error

The intermediate output path was not provided.

Error message

The intermediate output path was not provided.

What it means

pack-workspace.mjs requires an intermediate output path as argv[6] where it writes and later reads packagesToPack.json and renames.json used to coordinate the two-phase --update-versions / --create-packages flow. Missing it aborts the script.

Source

Thrown at eng/scripts/npm/pack-workspace.mjs:34

const packageOutputPath = process.argv[5];

const intermediateOutputPath = process.argv[6];

// 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.');
}

if (!packageOutputPath) {
  throw new Error('The package output path was not provided.');
}

if (!intermediateOutputPath) {
  throw new Error('The intermediate output path was not provided.');
}

// Log all the captured process arguments
console.log(`Workspace Path: ${workspacePath}`);
console.log(`Default Package Version: ${defaultPackageVersion}`);
console.log(`Package Output Path: ${packageOutputPath}`);
console.log(`Intermediate Output Path: ${intermediateOutputPath}`);

if (action === '--update-versions') {
  const [packagesToPack, renames] = applyVersions(defaultPackageVersion, workspacePath);
  // Write packagesToPack and renames to a file
  writeJsonSync(resolve(intermediateOutputPath, 'packagesToPack.json'), packagesToPack);
  writeJsonSync(resolve(intermediateOutputPath, 'renames.json'), renames);
} else if (action === '--create-packages') {
  if (!existsSync(packageOutputPath)) {
    throw new Error(`The package output path ${packageOutputPath} does not exist.`);
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 3600ca084e)

Solutions

1. Pass the intermediate working directory as the 6th positional argument.
2. Ensure the MSBuild property feeding intermediateOutputPath is set (typically the obj directory).
3. Run --update-versions and --create-packages with the same intermediate path so the JSON handoff files line up.

Example fix

// before
node pack-workspace.mjs --update-versions ./pkg/package.json 8.0.0 artifacts/packages
// after
node pack-workspace.mjs --update-versions ./pkg/package.json 8.0.0 artifacts/packages artifacts/intermediate

if (!process.argv[6]) {
    console.error('Intermediate output path (argv[6]) required');
    process.exit(2);
}

const isNonEmpty = (s) => typeof s === 'string' && s.length > 0;

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking the script with argv[6] (intermediateOutputPath) missing or empty (pack-workspace.mjs:18,33-35).

Common situations: The build target omitted the intermediate/obj directory argument; a CI yaml refactor dropped the parameter; the property pointing at $(IntermediateOutputPath) was empty.

Related errors

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

AI-assisted analysis of dotnet/aspnetcore@3600ca084e (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d2208db0e263f071. Report an issue: GitHub.