[Bug] Can't add packages: This command can only be run from within a workspace of your project

I created a folder called hello-world then ran yarn init.

It created a file called package.json with this content:

{
  "name": "hello-world"
}

Then I try to install a package, for example moment: yarn add moment.

I get this error:

Usage Error: This command can only be run from within a workspace of your project (Desktop/hello-world isn't a workspace of /C:/Users/Joel/package.json).

and /C:/Users/Joel/package.json doesn’t exist, because I deleted it to see if it would fix the problem, but it didn’t.

Is there a way to use yarn without dealing with all that workspace thing, I thought I could just replace npm with yarn…

[bgotink]

I can reproduce this on my machine (macOS). Creating an empty yarn.lock file in your package directory (i.e. at C:\Users\Joel\Desktop\hello-world\yarn.lock) makes it work.

[neodon]

I’d like to be able to have multiple packages in my repo without being forced to use workspaces.

This is the best I could do for a repro. Since the yarn command fails, it says the reproduction is invalid. I think you all need to reconsider this requirement for a reproduction using Sherlock when an issue is opened with clear and concise repro instructions.

const fs = require('fs')

fs.writeFileSync('package.json', JSON.stringify({
    name: 'root-package',
    version: '1.0.0'
}))

fs.mkdirSync('sub-package')

fs.writeFileSync('sub-package/package.json', JSON.stringify({
    name: 'sub-package',
    version: '1.0.0'
}))

process.chdir('sub-package')
const output = await yarn(`install`);

expect(output).not.toContain(`Usage Error`);