yarnpkg/yarn · error · MessageError

linkMissing

Error message

linkMissing

What it means

Thrown in the per-package branch of 'yarn unlink' when fs.exists(linkLoc) is false for a named argument. linkLoc is path.join(config.linkFolder, name); if that symlink/folder does not exist, the package was never linked (or already unlinked), so the command aborts.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/commands/unlink.js:29

export function setFlags(commander: Object) {
  commander.description('Unlink a previously created symlink for a package.');
}

export function hasWrapper(commander: Object, args: Array<string>): boolean {
  return true;
}

export async function run(config: Config, reporter: Reporter, flags: Object, args: Array<string>): Promise<void> {
  if (args.length) {
    for (const name of args) {
      const linkLoc = path.join(config.linkFolder, name);
      if (await fs.exists(linkLoc)) {
        await fs.unlink(path.join(await getRegistryFolder(config, name), name));
        reporter.success(reporter.lang('linkDisusing', name));
        reporter.info(reporter.lang('linkDisusingMessage', name));
      } else {
        throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('linkMissing', name));
      }
    }
  } else {
    // remove from registry
    const manifest = await config.readRootManifest();
    const name = manifest.name;
    if (!name) {
      throw new MessageError(reporter.lang('unknownPackageName'));
    }

    const linkLoc = path.join(config.linkFolder, name);
    if (await fs.exists(linkLoc)) {
      // If there is a `bin` defined in the package.json,
      // link each bin to the global bin
      if (manifest.bin) {
        const globalBinFolder = await getGlobalBinFolder(config, flags);
        for (const binName in manifest.bin) {
          const binDestLoc = path.join(globalBinFolder, binName);

View on GitHub (pinned to c2dda503f3)

Solutions

1. Verify the name matches a package you previously linked with 'yarn link'.
2. Check the link folder: inspect config.linkFolder (often ~/.config/yarn/link or the Yarn global prefix).
3. If the link genuinely does not exist, no action is needed — the goal state is already reached.
4. Ensure you are using the same Yarn installation/prefix that created the link.

const linkLoc = path.join(config.linkFolder, name);
if (!await fs.exists(linkLoc)) {
  throw new Error(`No link named "${name}" in ${config.linkFolder}; nothing to unlink.`);
}

async function linkExists(config: Config, name: string): Promise<boolean> {
  return fs.exists(path.join(config.linkFolder, name));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running 'yarn unlink <name>' where the global link folder (<linkFolder>/<name>) does not exist on disk, i.e. the source package was never registered via 'yarn link' or has already been unlinked.

Common situations: User runs 'yarn unlink foo' before ever running 'yarn link' in foo's directory; the link was already removed; the configured linkFolder points elsewhere (different prefix/global folder); typo in the name.

Related errors

• noPermission
• Don't know how to handle this file type
• unknownFolderOrTarball
• invalidPackageName
• requiredVersionInRange

AI-assisted analysis of yarnpkg/yarn@c2dda503f3 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2817c81a2cf6926e. Report an issue: GitHub.