Error: missing lockfile prevents dependency installation

[xinyu-hou]

Hi,

I am encountering an issue with the cypress-io/github-action in my GitHub Actions script. I have chosen not to commit the "package-lock.json" file in my GitHub repository, as I can generate one using the "npm install" command.

However, this seems to cause a problem when I attempt to use the cypress-io/github-action. Below is my current GitHub Actions script:

name: Cypress Component Tests

on:
  push:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  cypress-component-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check out repository code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run Cypress component tests
        uses: cypress-io/github-action@v6
        with:
          install-command: npm install
          component: true

Here is the error message I encountered:

Error: Action failed. Missing package manager lockfile. Expecting one of package-lock.json (npm), pnpm-lock.yaml (pnpm) or yarn.lock (yarn) in working-directory /runner/_work/xinyu-cypress-action-investigation/xinyu-cypress-action-investigation

It appears that despite specifying the install-command, the cypress-io/github-action does not install the dependencies before running the component tests. I am curious if a "package-lock.json" file is indeed required to use the cypress-io/github-action.

Thank you for your assistance!

[MikeMcC399]

@xinyu-hou

The default use of cypress-io/github-action requires a package manager lockfile to be present. This is used to install dependencies and to key caches.

According to the npm documentation, package-lock.json is intended to be committed into source repositories.

If you do not want to follow the recommendations of the npm documentation, and do not commit a package-lock.json file, then you must install dependencies before using cypress-io/github-action and then disable installation in the action:

uses: cypress-io/github-action@v6
with:
  install: false

[MikeMcC399]

• PR docs: add install-command lock file prerequisite #1310 extends the documentation to cover this case

[xinyu-hou]

@MikeMcC399

Thank you for the clarification! I appreciate it!

[MikeMcC399]

@xinyu-hou

Thank you for the clarification! I appreciate it!

You uncovered a gap in the documentation and so the section Custom install command is now made to cover this situation.

Thank you also for your report! I am going to close this issue now as it has been resolved through the documentation update.