Found catalog reference but ${catalogFileName} does not exis

Error message

Found catalog reference but ${catalogFileName} does not exist

What it means

Emitted by the update-catalog step of turbo-codemod's `migrate` command. It resolves a `catalog:` specifier for turbo in the root package.json and needs the package manager's catalog file (CATALOG_FILES maps pnpm to pnpm-workspace.yaml and yarn to .yarnrc.yml) at the repo root; when that file is missing the step warns and returns undefined, so the catalog-based turbo update is skipped for this run.

Source

Thrown at packages/turbo-codemod/src/commands/migrate/steps/update-catalog.ts:64

  } else if (packageJson.dependencies && "turbo" in packageJson.dependencies) {
    turboSpecifier = packageJson.dependencies.turbo;
    installType = "dependencies";
  } else {
    return undefined;
  }

  if (!turboSpecifier?.startsWith("catalog:")) {
    return undefined;
  }

  const catalogFileName = CATALOG_FILES[packageManager];
  if (!catalogFileName) {
    return undefined;
  }

  const catalogFile = path.join(root, catalogFileName);
  if (!fs.existsSync(catalogFile)) {
    logger.warn(
      `Found catalog reference but ${catalogFileName} does not exist`
    );
    return undefined;
  }

  const ref = turboSpecifier.slice("catalog:".length);
  const catalogName = ref === "" || ref === "default" ? null : ref;

  return { catalogName, catalogFile, installType };
}

/**
 * Update the turbo version in a catalog file (pnpm-workspace.yaml or .yarnrc.yml).
 * Preserves the existing version range prefix (^, ~, etc.) and YAML formatting.
 *
 * Returns true if the catalog was updated.
 */
export function updateCatalogVersion({

View on GitHub (pinned to f9245100cf)

Solutions

Ensure pnpm-workspace.yaml (or .yarnrc.yml) exists at the repo root and contains the catalog entry
Run the codemod from the repository root
If catalogs are no longer used, replace the `catalog:` specifier with an explicit version before migrating

Example fix

# before: package.json references a catalog with no backing file
"devDependencies": { "turbo": "catalog:" }
# pnpm-workspace.yaml missing

# after: pnpm-workspace.yaml
packages:
  - 'apps/*'
  - 'packages/*'
catalog:
  turbo: '^2.3.3'

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import fs from 'node:fs';
import path from 'node:path';

// before running the codemod
const catalog = path.join(repoRoot, 'pnpm-workspace.yaml');
if (specifier.startsWith('catalog:') && !fs.existsSync(catalog)) {
  throw new Error(`catalog reference requires ${catalog} to exist`);
}

Prevention

Run @turbo/codemod migrate from the repository root so root/catalog resolution is correct
Keep pnpm-workspace.yaml (and .yarnrc.yml for yarn) at the root and in version control
Replace stale `catalog:` specifiers when migrating off pnpm catalogs

When it happens

Trigger: Running `npx @turbo/codemod migrate` where the root package.json has `"turbo": "catalog:"` or `catalog:<name>` for pnpm or yarn, but the corresponding catalog file (pnpm-workspace.yaml / .yarnrc.yml) does not exist at the resolved root.

Common situations: pnpm-workspace.yaml renamed, moved, or never committed; codemod invoked from a subdirectory so root resolution picks the wrong folder; catalog references left behind after migrating off pnpm.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vercel/turborepo@f9245100cf (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c412d05c5dab5ded. Report an issue: GitHub.