yarnpkg/yarn · error · MessageError

invalidVersion

Error message

invalidVersion

What it means

Thrown by 'yarn version' when --new-version is provided but isValidNewVersion(oldVersion, newVersion, config.looseSemver, identifier) returns false. The proposed version is not a valid semver relative to the existing version (and optional preid).

Source

Thrown at src/cli/commands/version.js:89

    return flags.commitHooks === false || config.getOption('version-commit-hooks') === false;
  }

  if (pkg.scripts) {
    // inherit `scripts` from manifest
    Object.assign(scripts, pkg.scripts);
  }

  // get old version
  let oldVersion = pkg.version;
  if (oldVersion) {
    reporter.info(`${reporter.lang('currentVersion')}: ${oldVersion}`);
  } else {
    oldVersion = '0.0.0';
  }

  // get new version
  if (newVersion && !isValidNewVersion(oldVersion, newVersion, config.looseSemver, identifier)) {
    throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('invalidVersion'));
  }

  // get new version by bumping old version, if requested
  if (!newVersion) {
    if (flags.major) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'major');
    } else if (flags.minor) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'minor');
    } else if (flags.patch) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'patch');
    } else if (flags.premajor) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'premajor', identifier);
    } else if (flags.preminor) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'preminor', identifier);
    } else if (flags.prepatch) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'prepatch', identifier);
    } else if (flags.prerelease) {
      newVersion = semver.inc(oldVersion, 'prerelease', identifier);

View on GitHub (pinned to c2dda503f3)

Solutions

1. Provide a concrete, valid semver: 'yarn version --new-version 1.2.3'.
2. If you want to bump rather than set an exact version, use --patch/--minor/--major instead.
3. When using --preid, ensure --new-version is a valid prerelease form (e.g. '1.2.3-beta.1') consistent with the identifier.

Example fix

# before
$ yarn version --new-version 1.x
# after
$ yarn version --new-version 1.2.3

import semver from 'semver';

function assertValidNewVersion(oldVersion: string, newVersion: string, loose: boolean, identifier?: string) {
  if (!isValidNewVersion(oldVersion, newVersion, loose, identifier)) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid version "${newVersion}" relative to current "${oldVersion}"`);
  }
}
// or simply: if (!semver.valid(newVersion)) throw ...

import semver from 'semver';
function isValidVersionInput(v: unknown): v is string {
  return typeof v === 'string' && semver.valid(v) !== null;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'yarn version --new-version <bad>' where <bad> is e.g. 'foo', '1.x', '1.2', or otherwise fails semver validation given the current version and identifier.

Common situations: Typo in the version string; user passed a range instead of a concrete version; pre-release identifier mismatch with --preid; loose-semver disabled and the value is too permissive.

Related errors

• requiredVersionInRange
• invalidVersionArgument
• invalidPackageName
• tooFewArguments
• noArguments

AI-assisted analysis of yarnpkg/yarn@c2dda503f3 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9195c019929cb66e. Report an issue: GitHub.