Built-in templates do not start

Pre-flight checklist

• I have read the contribution documentation for this project.
• I agree to follow the code of conduct that this project uses.
• I have searched the issue tracker for a bug that matches the one I want to file, without success.

Electron Forge version

6.0.0-beta.70

Electron version

v21.2.0

Operating system

Windows 10 Version 21H1 Build 19043.2130

Last known working Electron Forge version

6.0.0-beta.65

Expected behavior

After running the following commands

yarn create electron-app test --template=webpack
cd test
npm run start

then the empty application should start.

Actual behavior

test>npm run start

test@1.0.0 start electron-forge start

√ Checking your system √ Locating Application

An unhandled rejection has occurred inside Forge: Error: package.json for app does not have any devDependencies

Electron Forge was terminated. Location: {}

Steps to reproduce

See above

Additional information

Running node_modules\.bin\electron-forge --version returns this:

√ Checking your system
 6.0.0-beta.70

However according to packages.json it’s beta.69 that’s installed.

{
  "name": "test",
  "productName": "test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "My Electron application description",
  "main": ".webpack/main",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "electron-forge start",
    "package": "electron-forge package",
    "make": "electron-forge make",
    "publish": "electron-forge publish",
    "lint": "echo \"No linting configured\""
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": {
    "name": "cwellsx",
    "email": "[e-mail]"
  },
  "license": "MIT",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@electron-forge/cli": "^6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@electron-forge/maker-deb": "^6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@electron-forge/maker-rpm": "^6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@electron-forge/maker-squirrel": "^6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@electron-forge/maker-zip": "^6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@electron-forge/plugin-webpack": "6.0.0-beta.69",
    "@vercel/webpack-asset-relocator-loader": "1.7.3",
    "css-loader": "^6.0.0",
    "electron": "21.2.0",
    "node-loader": "^2.0.0",
    "style-loader": "^3.0.0"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "electron-squirrel-startup": "^1.0.0"
  }
}

[erikian]

@VerteDinde I found the issue. When create-electron-app is installed, it installs forge as a dependency. When create-electron-app is run, it calls @electron-forge\cli\dist\electron-forge-init.js, which ultimately copies the package.json from create-electron-app’s package.json and runs npm install / yarn install.

In other words: the forge version you get depends on when create-electron-app was first run on your system. The same applies for any other dependencies, like @vercel/webpack-asset-relocator-loader as you can see in the comments above. Since @electron-forge/plugin-webpack is pinned in the package.json, that specific (and probably outdated) version is always installed.

When I run create-electron-app on npm instead of Yarn, I get beta-59. You’re getting the latest version because the computers you’re testing on never ran create-electron-app before.

[erikian]

No global electron-forge here: