Creating a project with existing directory => impossible?

Versions

ng --version: 1.7.0
npm --version: 5.0.3
node --version: v6.9.5
OS: Windows 10, 64-bit

Repro steps

Create a new project folder: $ mkdir test
Switch into the folder: $ cd test
Install angular-cli: $ npm install -g @angular/cli
Try to create a new angular project with the currenct directory: $ ng new appName --directory ./

The last step is nowhere officially documented, however, multiple GitHub-issues linked to this, including:

In lack of a documented possibility to create an angular project in an existing directory, I used the above solution.

Observed behavior

Error: Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"directory":"./","name":"appName","skipGit":false,"style":"css","version":"1.7.0","commit":{"message":"chore: initial commit from @angular/cli\n\n    _                      _                 ____ _     ___\n   / \\   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|\n  / △ \\ | '_ \\ / _\\` | | | | |/ _\\` | '__|   | |   | |    | |\n / ___ \\| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |\n/_/   \\_\\_| |_|\\__, |\\__,_|_|\\__,_|_|       \\____|_____|___|\n               |___/\n","name":"Angular CLI","email":"angular-cli@angular.io"},"path":"app","sourceDir":"src","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","skipTests":false,"skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"minimal":false,"serviceWorker":false}
Errors:
  .directory should match format "path"
Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"directory":"./","name":"appName","skipGit":false,"style":"css","version":"1.7.0","commit":{"message":"chore: initial commit from @angular/cli\n\n    _                      _                 ____ _     ___\n   / \\   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|\n  / △ \\ | '_ \\ / _\\` | | | | |/ _\\` | '__|   | |   | |    | |\n / ___ \\| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |\n/_/   \\_\\_| |_|\\__, |\\__,_|_|\\__,_|_|       \\____|_____|___|\n               |___/\n","name":"Angular CLI","email":"angular-cli@angular.io"},"path":"app","sourceDir":"src","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","skipTests":false,"skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"minimal":false,"serviceWorker":false}
Errors:
  .directory should match format "path"

(Yes, the command results in exactly above output - the error message is repeated twice)

Desired behavior

I would expect that angular generates files for a project in the folder, and of course no error message resulting. The files should be located directly in the "test"-folder and not be placed in a subfolder, e.g. "test/appName".

Mention any other details that might be useful (optional)

Using an absolute path instead of a relatively one (in the ng new command) does not change anything, apart from the path-contents of the error message.

Using the command like $ ng new appName --directory . (without the / in the directory path) results in the same error.

Trying to reference the directory from itself by relative path (used as possible workaround) fails with a new error message:

$ mkdir test
$ cd test
$ ng new appName --directory "../test"
Error: Path "/../test" is invalid.
Path "/../test" is invalid.

If there is any other information I might help you with, please tell me.

Workaround

The same result can be achieved by changing into the parent directory and commanding angular to create the app in the sub-directory:

$ mkdir test
$ ng new appName --directory "test"

Unfortunately, the error messaging is currently overly verbose and repeats. There is on ongoing work to improve the error messaging. In this case the the validation is also overly strict and the actual cause is the / in the --directory ./ option. Removing it should prevent the validation error.

Unfortunately, when calling --directory ., the error message stays the same:

C:\Users\MyUser\test>ng new appName --directory .
Error: Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"directory":".","name":"appName","skipGit":false,"style":"css","version":"1.7.0","commit":{"message":"chore: initial commit from @angular/cli\n\n    _                      _                 ____ _     ___\n   / \\   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|\n  / △ \\ | '_ \\ / _\\` | | | | |/ _\\` | '__|   | |   | |    | |\n / ___ \\| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |\n/_/   \\_\\_| |_|\\__, |\\__,_|_|\\__,_|_|       \\____|_____|___|\n               |___/\n","name":"Angular CLI","email":"angular-cli@angular.io"},"path":"app","sourceDir":"src","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","skipTests":false,"skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"minimal":false,"serviceWorker":false}
Errors:
  .directory should match format "path"

I just gave it another run and I found out that it works if I use a relative path out of a parent directory.

Meaning, when executing the command like this:

$ mkdir test
$ ng new appName --directory "test"

it works fine. However, the original case fails with the described error message:

$ mkdir test
$ cd test
$ ng new appName --directory ./

And the following new test case fails as well, but with a new error message:

$ mkdir test
$ cd test
$ ng new appName --directory "../test"
Error: Path "/../test" is invalid.
Path "/../test" is invalid.

It seems like there are some problems with path resolving?

I'll update my original post to include the workaround for people that land here by google or similar.

You're right. Both . and ./ should work but it appears only an absolute path seems to work. Would you mind trying it with an absolute path to confirm?

As already stated in my original post, absolute paths do not work. I tried it with both \ and / notation, only referencing a relative path to a subfolder seems to work.

Absolutes paths work on Mac and linux; the windows drive letter appears to be the problem in that scenario. The initial errors are due to validation of the string argument. The last issue described is actually an unrelated, different issue with an origin in the initialization of the schematic engine.

I also encountered this problem: trying to create from within the project folder with --directory . failed with the error described above, as did
cd
ng new name --directory ./subdirectory

but this worked (without the dot):
cd
ng new name --directory subdirectory

Just to confirm that absolute paths are NOT working on Ubuntu. Both a root (/) and a home (¬) path don't give the error but actually create a sub-path equivalent to the absolute path underneath the current directory (!). So if you are in /myProject/testProject and you do ng new --dir=/myProject/testProject, it actually creates the project files in /myProject/testProject/myProject/testProject.

fix: Remove --dir options for the 'new' generator. See angular/angula…

This is a serious issue that was created with the 1.7.0 release.

Some companies have very restricted environments and installing @angular/cli globally is not an option. In other environments programmers work on multiple projects. How @angular/cli creates files could change as versions of @angular change, and installing @angular/cli globally may force the programmer into a version that is not backwards compatible for old projects.

Up to version 1.6.8 you could install @angular/cli locally in the project folder and then create the project in the same folder with "--directory ." Somebody added path checking to 1.7.0, and it refused to allow . or .. in the path name. This functionality needs to be restored ASAP.

Seems to be caused by incorrect path validation here. Validation checks whether path equals to its normalised version which trims relative things like ..
WebStorm project generation is broken due to this.

I just ran into this on Windows 8.1 using latest Webstorm using their 'New Project' which creates with angular-cli.

"C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" C:\Users\granite\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules@angular\cli\bin\ng new Testing123 --dir=.
Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"directory":".","name":"Testing123","skipGit":false,"style":"css","version":"1.7.1","commit":
SNIP____

Errors:Errors:

.directory should match format "path" .directory should match format "path"

Done

I can confirm that neither relative nor absolute paths are currently working in Windows 10 now. I've done this in the past successfully. Seems to me that the latest update broke it.

I thought I was crazy until I found this

I could resolve the error by changing
ng new test_essentials
to
ng new essentials
Apart from numbers in the name, apparently an underscore is not accepted either

ng new does not like the underscore " _ " so test_essentials should be put down as testEssentials

This functionality is also hit and miss across all 6.x versions

Tested with the following:

npm show @angular/cli@6.* version | \
while read pkg version;
do
  echo npm install -g ${pkg};
  echo ng --version;
  v=$(echo ${version} | awk -F\' '{ gsub(/\./,""); print $2; }');
  app="ngCli${v}";
  echo mkdir -p ${app};
  echo pushd ${app};
  echo ng new \"${app}\" --directory=\"./\"  -d;
  echo popd;
  echo echo $(printf "%0.s-" {1..25});
  echo echo;
done | bash -x

version	works
6.0.0	✘
6.0.1	✘
6.0.2	✔
6.0.3	✔
6.0.4	✘
6.0.5	✔
6.0.7	✔
6.0.8	✔
6.1.0	✘
6.1.1	✘

versions and output

6.0.0
- Angular CLI: 6.0.0
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.0
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.0
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.0
@schematics/angular	0.6.0
@schematics/update	0.6.0
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

  $ ng new ngCli600 --directory=./ -d
  Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"dryRun":true,"directory":"./","skipGit":true,"version":"6.0.0","skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"commit":true,"newProjectRoot":"projects","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","style":"css","skipTests":false}
  Errors:

    Data path ".directory" should match format "path".

6.0.1
- Angular CLI: 6.0.1
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.1
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.1
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.1
@schematics/angular	0.6.1
@schematics/update	0.6.1
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli601 --directory=./ -d
Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"dryRun":true,"directory":"./","skipGit":true,"version":"6.0.1","skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"commit":true,"newProjectRoot":"projects","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","style":"css","skipTests":false}
Errors:

  Data path ".directory" should match format "path".

6.0.2
- Angular CLI: 6.0.2
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.2
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.2
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.2
@schematics/angular	0.6.2
@schematics/update	0.6.2
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli602 --directory=./ -d
CREATE README.md (1025 bytes)
CREATE angular.json (3420 bytes)
CREATE package.json (1313 bytes)
CREATE tsconfig.json (384 bytes)
CREATE tslint.json (2805 bytes)
CREATE .editorconfig (245 bytes)
CREATE .gitignore (503 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.ts (631 bytes)
CREATE src/favicon.ico (5430 bytes)
CREATE src/index.html (295 bytes)
CREATE src/main.ts (370 bytes)
CREATE src/polyfills.ts (3194 bytes)
CREATE src/test.ts (642 bytes)
CREATE src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE src/styles.css (80 bytes)
CREATE src/browserslist (375 bytes)
CREATE src/karma.conf.js (964 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.app.json (194 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.spec.json (282 bytes)
CREATE src/tslint.json (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.module.ts (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.css (0 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.html (1141 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.spec.ts (986 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.ts (207 bytes)
CREATE e2e/protractor.conf.js (752 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.e2e-spec.ts (299 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.po.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE e2e/tsconfig.e2e.json (213 bytes)

NOTE: Run with "dry run" no changes were made.

6.0.3
- Angular CLI: 6.0.3
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.3
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.3
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.3
@schematics/angular	0.6.3
@schematics/update	0.6.3
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli603 --directory=./ -d
CREATE README.md (1025 bytes)
CREATE angular.json (3420 bytes)
CREATE package.json (1313 bytes)
CREATE tsconfig.json (384 bytes)
CREATE tslint.json (2805 bytes)
CREATE .editorconfig (245 bytes)
CREATE .gitignore (503 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.ts (631 bytes)
CREATE src/favicon.ico (5430 bytes)
CREATE src/index.html (295 bytes)
CREATE src/main.ts (370 bytes)
CREATE src/polyfills.ts (3194 bytes)
CREATE src/test.ts (642 bytes)
CREATE src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE src/styles.css (80 bytes)
CREATE src/browserslist (375 bytes)
CREATE src/karma.conf.js (964 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.app.json (194 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.spec.json (282 bytes)
CREATE src/tslint.json (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.module.ts (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.css (0 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.html (1141 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.spec.ts (991 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.ts (207 bytes)
CREATE e2e/protractor.conf.js (752 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.e2e-spec.ts (299 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.po.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE e2e/tsconfig.e2e.json (213 bytes)

NOTE: Run with "dry run" no changes were made.

6.0.4
- Angular CLI: 6.0.4
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.4
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.4
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.4
@schematics/angular	0.6.4
@schematics/update	0.6.4
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli604 --directory=./ -d
Schematic input does not validate against the Schema: {"dryRun":true,"directory":"./","skipGit":true,"version":"6.0.4","skipInstall":false,"linkCli":false,"commit":true,"newProjectRoot":"projects","inlineStyle":false,"inlineTemplate":false,"routing":false,"prefix":"app","style":"css","skipTests":false}
Errors:

  Data path "" should NOT have additional properties(dryRun).

6.0.5
- Angular CLI: 6.0.5
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.5
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.5
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.5
@schematics/angular	0.6.5
@schematics/update	0.6.5
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli605 --directory=./ -d
CREATE README.md (1025 bytes)
CREATE angular.json (3420 bytes)
CREATE package.json (1313 bytes)
CREATE tsconfig.json (384 bytes)
CREATE tslint.json (2805 bytes)
CREATE .editorconfig (245 bytes)
CREATE .gitignore (503 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.ts (631 bytes)
CREATE src/favicon.ico (5430 bytes)
CREATE src/index.html (295 bytes)
CREATE src/main.ts (370 bytes)
CREATE src/polyfills.ts (3194 bytes)
CREATE src/test.ts (642 bytes)
CREATE src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE src/styles.css (80 bytes)
CREATE src/browserslist (375 bytes)
CREATE src/karma.conf.js (964 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.app.json (194 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.spec.json (282 bytes)
CREATE src/tslint.json (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.module.ts (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.css (0 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.html (1141 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.spec.ts (991 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.ts (207 bytes)
CREATE e2e/protractor.conf.js (752 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.e2e-spec.ts (299 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.po.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE e2e/tsconfig.e2e.json (213 bytes)

NOTE: Run with "dry run" no changes were made.

6.0.7
- Angular CLI: 6.0.7
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.7
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.7
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.7
@schematics/angular	0.6.7
@schematics/update	0.6.7
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli607 --directory=./ -d
CREATE README.md (1025 bytes)
CREATE angular.json (3566 bytes)
CREATE package.json (1313 bytes)
CREATE tsconfig.json (384 bytes)
CREATE tslint.json (2805 bytes)
CREATE .editorconfig (245 bytes)
CREATE .gitignore (503 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.ts (631 bytes)
CREATE src/favicon.ico (5430 bytes)
CREATE src/index.html (295 bytes)
CREATE src/main.ts (370 bytes)
CREATE src/polyfills.ts (3194 bytes)
CREATE src/test.ts (642 bytes)
CREATE src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE src/styles.css (80 bytes)
CREATE src/browserslist (375 bytes)
CREATE src/karma.conf.js (964 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.app.json (194 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.spec.json (282 bytes)
CREATE src/tslint.json (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.module.ts (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.css (0 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.html (1141 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.spec.ts (991 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.ts (207 bytes)
CREATE e2e/protractor.conf.js (752 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.e2e-spec.ts (304 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.po.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE e2e/tsconfig.e2e.json (213 bytes)

NOTE: Run with "dry run" no changes were made.

6.0.8
- Angular CLI: 6.0.8
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.6.8
@angular-devkit/core	0.6.8
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.6.8
@schematics/angular	0.6.8
@schematics/update	0.6.8
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli608 --directory=./ -d
CREATE README.md (1025 bytes)
CREATE angular.json (3566 bytes)
CREATE package.json (1313 bytes)
CREATE tsconfig.json (384 bytes)
CREATE tslint.json (2805 bytes)
CREATE .editorconfig (245 bytes)
CREATE .gitignore (503 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.prod.ts (51 bytes)
CREATE src/environments/environment.ts (631 bytes)
CREATE src/favicon.ico (5430 bytes)
CREATE src/index.html (295 bytes)
CREATE src/main.ts (370 bytes)
CREATE src/polyfills.ts (3194 bytes)
CREATE src/test.ts (642 bytes)
CREATE src/assets/.gitkeep (0 bytes)
CREATE src/styles.css (80 bytes)
CREATE src/browserslist (375 bytes)
CREATE src/karma.conf.js (964 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.app.json (194 bytes)
CREATE src/tsconfig.spec.json (282 bytes)
CREATE src/tslint.json (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.module.ts (314 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.css (0 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.html (1141 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.spec.ts (991 bytes)
CREATE src/app/app.component.ts (207 bytes)
CREATE e2e/protractor.conf.js (752 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.e2e-spec.ts (304 bytes)
CREATE e2e/src/app.po.ts (208 bytes)
CREATE e2e/tsconfig.e2e.json (213 bytes)

NOTE: Run with "dry run" no changes were made.

6.1.0
- Angular CLI: 6.1.0
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.7.0
@angular-devkit/core	0.7.0
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.7.0
@schematics/angular	0.7.0
@schematics/update	0.7.0
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli610 --directory=./ -d
Path "/README.md" already exist.

6.1.1
- Angular CLI: 6.1.1
- Node: 8.11.3
- OS: linux x64
- Angular:

Package	Version
@angular-devkit/architect	0.7.1
@angular-devkit/core	0.7.1
@angular-devkit/schematics	0.7.1
@schematics/angular	0.7.1
@schematics/update	0.7.1
rxjs	6.2.2
typescript	2.7.2

output:

$ ng new ngCli611 --directory=./ -d
Path "/README.md" already exist.

please help angular 5 project not create using ng new myapp .project stop successfully initialized git

With Latest angular version I guess from V12 you can use:
ng generate application <name> [options]

Thanks for reporting this issue. Please update to the most recent version to resolve the problem.

If the problem persists in your application after upgrading, please open a new issue, provide a simple repository reproducing the problem, and describe the difference between the expected and current behavior. You can use ng new repro-app to create a new project where you reproduce the problem.

This issue has been automatically locked due to inactivity.
Please file a new issue if you are encountering a similar or related problem.

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Creating a project with existing directory => impossible? #9655

Versions

Repro steps

Observed behavior

Desired behavior

Mention any other details that might be useful (optional)

Workaround

18 remaining items

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Creating a project with existing directory => impossible? #9655

Description

Versions

Repro steps

Observed behavior

Desired behavior

Mention any other details that might be useful (optional)

Workaround

Activity

clydin commented on Feb 16, 2018

sokraflex commented on Feb 16, 2018

sokraflex commented on Feb 16, 2018

clydin commented on Feb 16, 2018

sokraflex commented on Feb 16, 2018

clydin commented on Feb 16, 2018

Krumpet commented on Feb 18, 2018

colmben commented on Feb 23, 2018

jmussman commented on Feb 24, 2018

denofevil commented on Feb 26, 2018

granite commented on Feb 27, 2018

Gaspa79 commented on Feb 27, 2018

18 remaining items

kay17 commented on Jun 19, 2018

NDMCreative commented on Jul 17, 2018

arledesma commented on Jul 31, 2018

versions and output

HASSAANALVI20 commented on Aug 14, 2018

Parth7030 commented on Nov 28, 2022

alan-agius4 commented on Aug 28, 2026

angular-automatic-lock-bot commented on Oct 20, 2026

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