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@angular/compiler-cli >= 4.2.0 (ngc) not generating metadata.json file

See original GitHub issue

I’m submitting a…


[ ] Regression (a behavior that used to work and stopped working in a new release)
[X] Bug report
[ ] Feature request
[ ] Documentation issue or request
[ ] Support request

Current behavior

We use the Angular Compiler CLI (ngc) in combination with Rollup to generate the correct bundles for our (internal) Angular library, following the Angular Package Format documentation. And @angular/compiler-cli works as expected when used in version 4.1.3, meaning that compilation works, sourcemaps are here, type definitions are getting generated correctly, and the metadata.json file gets generated.

Any newer version of @angular/compiler-cli, however, does not generate the metadata.json file (while everything else seems to work properly).

Expected behavior

The @angular/compiler-cli should generate the metadata.json file on all versions / newer versions than 4.1.3.

Minimal reproduction of the problem with instructions

Trying to run ngc -p tsconfig.json in an Angular library project (e.g. https://github.com/dominique-mueller/angular-notifier) with the latest version of @angular/compiler-cli results in the problem described above.

Full tsconfig.json for ES5 build:

{
  "compileOnSave": false,
  "compilerOptions": {
    "declaration": true,
    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
    "experimentalDecorators": true,
    "lib": [
      "es2016",
      "dom"
    ],
    "module": "es2015",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "outDir": "./../../build/library-es5", // Result, without the metadata.json file
    "sourceMap": true,
    "stripInternal": true,
    "target": "es5"
  },
  "files": [
    "./../../build/library-inline/index.ts" // Library source (after inlining HTML templates)
  ],
  "angularCompilerOptions": {
    "flatModuleId": "@something/my-lib",
    "flatModuleOutFile": "my-lib.js",
    "genDir": "./../../build/library-es5-gen-dir",
    "skipTemplateCodegen": true,
    "strictMetadataEmit": true
  }
}

What is the motivation / use case for changing the behavior?

This issue prevents us from from publishing a library using the latest and greatest version of Angular. In addition, because in version 4.1.3 all Angular dependencies must exist in the same version (otherwise the build fails), this prevents us from using newer Angular features (such as the new HTTP client, amongst others).

Environment

Angular version:
- Tested with 4.1.3 -- working as expected
- Tested with 4.2.0, 4.3.0 and the latest (4.3.2) -- broken
 
For Tooling issues:
- Node version: 7.10.0
- Platform:  Windows 7 & Windows 10