vuejs/vue · error · Error

invalid target version: ${targetVersion}

Error message

invalid target version: ${targetVersion}

What it means

This error is thrown by the project's release script (scripts/release.js) when the resolved target version fails semver.valid(). It is a hard guard: no release proceeds unless targetVersion is a well-formed semantic version string. The script derives targetVersion from one of three sources — a CLI positional arg (args._[0]), a custom version typed into the enquirer prompt, or a substring extracted from a select choice of the form "patch (1.2.3)" via release.match(/\((.*)\)/)[1]. Any value that semver cannot parse (e.g. "1.2", "v1.2.3-foo", "latest") trips the guard.

Source

Thrown at scripts/release.js:63

      choices: versionIncrements.map(i => `${i} (${inc(i)})`).concat(['custom'])
    })

    if (release === 'custom') {
      targetVersion = (
        await prompt({
          type: 'input',
          name: 'version',
          message: 'Input custom version',
          initial: currentVersion
        })
      ).version
    } else {
      targetVersion = release.match(/\((.*)\)/)[1]
    }
  }

  if (!semver.valid(targetVersion)) {
    throw new Error(`invalid target version: ${targetVersion}`)
  }

  const { yes } = await prompt({
    type: 'confirm',
    name: 'yes',
    message: `Releasing v${targetVersion}. Confirm?`
  })

  if (!yes) {
    return
  }

  // run tests before release
  step('\nRunning tests...')
  if (!skipTests && !isDryRun) {
    await run('pnpm', ['test'])
  } else {
    console.log(`(skipped)`)

View on GitHub (pinned to 9e88707940)

Solutions

1. Pass a full semantic version as the only positional arg, e.g. `node scripts/release.js 3.0.0` (or `3.0.0-beta.1` if a preid is set).
2. If using the interactive prompt, pick one of the offered increment choices (which embed a valid semver in parentheses) rather than typing custom, OR type a complete semver into the custom field.
3. Strip any leading "v" and any non-semver suffix from the value before it reaches the script: `node scripts/release.js "$(echo $V | sed 's/^v//')"`.
4. When automating, validate first with `npx semver <version>` and exit non-zero before invoking the release script.

Example fix

// before
node scripts/release.js 3.0
node scripts/release.js v3.0.0

// after
node scripts/release.js 3.0.0
node scripts/release.js 3.0.0-beta.1

const semver = require('semver')

function assertTargetVersion(v) {
  if (typeof v !== 'string' || semver.valid(v) == null) {
    throw new Error(`Refusing to release: '${v}' is not a valid semver. Usage: node scripts/release.js <major.minor.patch>[-<preid>.<n>]`)
  }
  return v
}

// call BEFORE invoking the release script, or patch it into main() at line 62:
//   assertTargetVersion(targetVersion)
// CLI wrapper example:
const target = process.argv[2]
assertTargetVersion(target)
// only then exec the script

const semver = require('semver')
const isSemverVersion = (v) =>
  typeof v === 'string' && v.length > 0 && semver.valid(v) !== null

// usage
if (!isSemverVersion(targetVersion)) {
  console.error(`Invalid version '${targetVersion}'. Expected e.g. 1.2.3 or 1.2.3-beta.1`)
  process.exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `node scripts/release.js 1.2` (no patch field), or `node scripts/release.js latest`. Selecting the "custom" prompt option and entering a non-semver string such as "next" or "1.0". Passing a flag like `--preid beta` but then supplying a non-prerelease-shaped version. Note: if a release string with no parentheses were matched, line 58 (`release.match(/\((.*)\)/)[1]`) would throw a TypeError before reaching this check, so this specific error only fires when a value IS obtained but is semver-invalid.

Common situations: Forgetting the patch digit ("3.0" instead of "3.0.0"). Including a leading "v" ("v3.0.0") that semver treats as invalid in some semver versions. Copy-pasting a version from a tag name that includes extra metadata. Mismatched preid: building a prerelease like "3.0.0-beta" while preId resolved to "alpha". CI invoking the script with a version variable that resolved empty or to a SHA.

Related errors

• [@vue/compiler-sfc] SFC contains no <script> tags.
• Invalid JSON bundle file: ${bundle}
• Cannot locate bundle file: ${bundle}
• Invalid server-rendering bundle format. Should be a string o
• renderer cache must implement at least get & set.

AI-assisted analysis of vuejs/vue@9e88707940 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed7aaaaa5eedc159. Report an issue: GitHub.