@angular/cli gives error if node_modules is placed in parent folder

Probably related to https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/issues/3864

Bug Report or Feature Request (mark with an x)

- [x] bug report -> please search issues before submitting
- [ ] feature request

Command (mark with an x)

- [ ] new
- [ ] build
- [x] serve
- [ ] test
- [ ] e2e
- [ ] generate
- [ ] add
- [ ] update
- [ ] lint
- [ ] xi18n
- [ ] run
- [ ] config
- [ ] help
- [ ] version
- [ ] doc

Versions

node version: v8.11.3 npm version: 5.5.1

     _                      _                 ____ _     ___
    / \   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|
   / △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__|   | |   | |    | |
  / ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |
 /_/   \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_|       \____|_____|___|
                |___/


Angular CLI: 6.1.2
Node: 8.11.3
OS: win32 x64
Angular:
...

Package                      Version
------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect    0.7.2
@angular-devkit/core         0.7.2
@angular-devkit/schematics   0.7.2
@schematics/angular          0.7.2
@schematics/update           0.7.2
rxjs                         6.2.2
typescript                   2.7.2

Repro steps

• Clone the project (project is generated with angular-cli, no other modules are added)
• npm install in parent folder (node-modules-parent-folder)
• cd frontend for angular project folder
• ng serve to build and run

The log given by the failure

You seem to not be depending on "@angular/core" and/or "rxjs". This is an error.

Desired functionality

It should automatically navigate to parent folder (as per node resolution) and find the @angular/core and rxjs.

Mention any other details that might be useful

• Issue should’ve been fixed based on this commit https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/issues/3864#issuecomment-409318373 which is merged in 6.1.2
• https://github.com/Magnetars/node-modules-parent-folder.git
• The project is a base ng project, no other modules are added. (You could create a new project instead of cloning)
• "$schema": "./node_modules/@angular/cli/lib/config/schema.json", is changed to point to "$schema": "../node_modules/@angular/cli/lib/config/schema.json", (…/node_modules instead of ./node_modules)

Please note that while this could simply be solved by installing the node_modules in the Angular project folder, since my project is using server-side-rendering (using Angular Universal), it’s more convenient to have the node_modules in the parent folder shared by both frontend and backend

My project structure is something like this:

+-- node-modules-parent-folder <-------- project folder
|     +-- package.json <-------------------- package.json moved to parent folder
|     +-- node_modules
|     +-- frontend <------------------------ Angular project goes here
|           +-- angular.json
|     +-- backend  <------------------------ Server code goes here
|          +-- server.js

[Magnetars]

Indeed you are right, but instead I went with temporarily having node_modules in both the Angular project folder and the parent project folder, this way I can keep developing against the latest version (6.1.2 as of now) to avoid any sudden happy surprises if I migrate through multiple versions later.

But for people whom this is not a viable solution (I believe people using Docker can’t install node_modules in the Angular project folder), then you should go with version < 6.1.0 as mentioned by @jSchez since that’s where the problem first regressed

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