vuejs/vue-cli · error · Error

At least one dependency can't be found. Please install the d

Error message

At least one dependency can't be found. Please install the dependencies before trying to upgrade

What it means

Thrown during a full upgrade (`vue upgrade` without a specific plugin) when at least one @vue/cli-service or cli-plugin dependency listed in package.json is not installed in node_modules. The upgrader iterates all Vue CLI-related dependencies and checks each one's installed version; finding any uninstalled dependency aborts the entire upgrade.

Source

Thrown at packages/@vue/cli/lib/Upgrader.js:160

    }
  }

  async getUpgradable (includeNext) {
    const upgradable = []

    // get current deps
    // filter @vue/cli-service, @vue/cli-plugin-* & vue-cli-plugin-*
    for (const depType of ['dependencies', 'devDependencies', 'optionalDependencies']) {
      for (const [name, range] of Object.entries(this.pkg[depType] || {})) {
        if (name !== '@vue/cli-service' && !isPlugin(name)) {
          continue
        }

        const installed = await this.pm.getInstalledVersion(name)
        const wanted = await this.pm.getRemoteVersion(name, range)

        if (!installed) {
          throw new Error(`At least one dependency can't be found. Please install the dependencies before trying to upgrade`)
        }

        let latest = await this.pm.getRemoteVersion(name)
        if (includeNext) {
          const next = await this.pm.getRemoteVersion(name, 'next')
          if (next) {
            latest = semver.gte(latest, next) ? latest : next
          }
        }

        if (semver.lt(installed, latest)) {
          // always list @vue/cli-service as the first one
          // as it's depended by all other plugins
          if (name === '@vue/cli-service') {
            upgradable.unshift({ name, installed, wanted, latest })
          } else {
            upgradable.push({ name, installed, wanted, latest })
          }

View on GitHub (pinned to 7eb93c169c)

Solutions

Run npm install (or yarn/pnpm install) to install all dependencies before upgrading.
Run `npm list --depth=0` to verify all @vue/cli-plugin-* packages are installed.
If a specific plugin can't be installed, remove it from package.json before upgrading, or fix the install error first.

Example fix

# before
$ vue upgrade  # some plugins not in node_modules
# after
$ npm install
$ npm list --depth=0 | grep cli-plugin
$ vue upgrade

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const pkg = require('./package.json');
const { existsSync } = require('fs');
const depTypes = ['dependencies', 'devDependencies', 'optionalDependencies'];
const missing = [];
for (const dt of depTypes) {
  for (const name of Object.keys(pkg[dt] || {})) {
    if (name === '@vue/cli-service' || name.startsWith('vue-cli-plugin-') || name.startsWith('@vue/cli-plugin-')) {
      if (!existsSync(`node_modules/${name}/package.json`)) missing.push(name);
    }
  }
}
if (missing.length) console.error('Missing from node_modules:', missing.join(', '));

Try / catch

try {
  await upgrader.upgradeAll();
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes("At least one dependency can't be found")) {
    console.error('Run npm install before upgrading.');
    process.exit(1);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Run `npm install` to ensure all dependencies are present before `vue upgrade`.
Check for partial install failures with `npm ls`.
In CI, cache or restore node_modules fully before running upgrades.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `vue upgrade` (upgrade all) when one or more Vue CLI plugins listed in package.json are missing from node_modules. getInstalledVersion returns falsy for at least one dependency.

Common situations: After a partial npm install failure, after deleting node_modules but not reinstalling, or when a plugin was added to package.json manually without running install. CI pipelines that skip install steps.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vuejs/vue-cli@7eb93c169c (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9f740f8fe218f55. Report an issue: GitHub.