typeorm/typeorm · error · TypeORMError

No location is set, specify a location parameter or add the

Error message

No location is set, specify a location parameter or add the location option to your configuration

What it means

Thrown by SqljsDriver.save() when neither an explicit `location` argument nor options.location is set. save() needs a destination to write the exported Uint8Array to (file path in Node, storage key in browser); without one there is nothing to persist to and the call is meaningless.

Source

Thrown at src/driver/sqljs/SqljsDriver.ts:161

                }
            }
        } else {
            return this.createDatabaseConnectionWithImport(
                fileNameOrLocalStorageOrData,
            )
        }
    }

    /**
     * Saved the current database to the given file (Node.js), local storage key (browser) or
     * indexedDB key (browser with enabled useLocalForage option).
     * If no location path is given, the location path in the options (if specified) will be used.
     *
     * @param location
     */
    async save(location?: string) {
        if (!location && !this.options.location) {
            throw new TypeORMError(
                `No location is set, specify a location parameter or add the location option to your configuration`,
            )
        }

        let path = ""
        if (location) {
            path = location
        } else if (this.options.location) {
            path = this.options.location
        }

        if (PlatformTools.type === "node") {
            try {
                const content = Buffer.from(this.databaseConnection.export())
                await PlatformTools.writeFile(path, content)
            } catch (e) {
                throw new TypeORMError(`Could not save database, error: ${e}`)
            }

View on GitHub (pinned to 04ff4daedc)

Solutions

Pass an explicit path/key to save(): await driver.save("./data/app.sqlite").
Set `location` in the DataSource options so save() has a default destination.
If you want the bytes rather than a file write, call driver.export() instead of save().
If using autoSaveCallback, ensure options.autoSaveCallback is set — that path bypasses save() entirely.

Example fix

// before
await driver.save();
// after
await driver.save("./data/app.sqlite");
// or
const bytes: Uint8Array = driver.export();

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const dest = location ?? options.location;
if (!dest) throw new Error('No save destination - set options.location or pass a path');
await driver.save(dest);

Type guard

const hasSaveTarget = (o: SqljsDataSourceOptions, explicit?: string) =>
  typeof explicit === 'string' || typeof o.location === 'string';

Try / catch

try { await driver.save(); }
catch (e) { if (e instanceof TypeORMError && /No location is set/.test(e.message)) { await driver.save('app.sqlite'); } else throw e; }

Prevention

Always set options.location so save() has a default destination.
Pass an explicit path/key to save() when calling manually.
Use driver.export() if you want bytes rather than a file write.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling driver.save() with no argument when options.location was never set; calling driver.save() after constructing a DataSource that only had `database` (seed bytes) and no `location`; autoSave triggering save() after the user cleared options.location.

Common situations: Memory-only sqljs usage where the developer calls save() expecting it to return bytes (it doesn't — that is export()); forgot to set location in options; autoSave enabled but neither location nor autoSaveCallback configured (constructor normally catches this, but a save() call from manual code path also hits this guard).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of typeorm/typeorm@04ff4daedc (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/98470034dd6a8cd5.json. Report an issue: GitHub.