denoland/deno

Deno warns that a links field is illegal in a non-root package, but then still uses that same links field to resolve dependencies. Both can't be true.

Version

deno 2.9.2 (also 2.9.0)

Project structure

deno-repro/
├── core/
│   ├── deno.json         name @repro/core
│   └── src/index.ts      exports core()
├── middle/
│   ├── deno.json         name @repro/middle, links ["../core"]
│   └── src/index.ts      imports @repro/core
└── top/
    ├── deno.json         name @repro/top, links ["../core", "../middle"]
    └── src/index.ts      imports @repro/middle

Dependency direction: top imports middle, middle imports core.

Flow

flowchart TD
  A["cd top and run: deno check src/"] --> B["top is the active root"]
  B --> C["Deno reads middle as a linked package"]
  C --> D{"middle declares a links field"}
  D -->|treated as non-root config| W["Warning: links can only be specified in workspace root"]
  D -->|but the field is still used| E["resolve @repro/core through middle links"]
  E --> F["fetch core/src/index.ts, success"]
  F --> G["type check passes, exit 0"]

  classDef warn fill:#ffebee,stroke:#c62828,color:#000;
  classDef ok fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#000;
  class W warn;
  class G ok;

Both outcomes come from the same links field in middle: it is flagged as illegal (W) yet used successfully to resolve (G).