--workspaces does not work with --packageFile

[oskaremil]

• I have searched for similar issues
• I am using the latest version of npm-check-updates, 18.3.0 at the time of writing

---

I have an automation script to check for npm package updates. The script covers multiple projects and therefore runs outside the project directory.

Steps to Reproduce

Dependencies:

Using node v22.19.0 and npm v11.6.1 on Fedora 42 using bash.

One of the projects is an npm workspace root, so I want to run using --workspaces on this project.

Steps:

run npm-check-updates --packageFile /home/me/my/workspace/root/package.json --workspaces

Current Behavior

Only the workspace root is checked

Checking /home/me/my/workspace/root/package.json
[====================] 2/2 100%

All dependencies match the minor package versions :)

Expected Behavior

Expected behavior would be the same as if I cd /home/me/my/workspace/root/ and run npm-check-updates --workspaces giving be an output like this:

Checking /home/me/my/workspace/root/package.json
[====================] 2/2 100%

All dependencies match the minor package versions :)
Checking /home/me/my/workspace/root/local-development/package.json
[====================] 13/13 100%

 # list of dependencies omitted for readability

Run ncu --workspaces --target minor -u to upgrade local-development/package.json
Checking /home/me/my/workspace/root/lib/package.json
[====================] 10/10 100%

 # list of dependencies omitted for readability

Run ncu --workspaces --target minor -u to upgrade lib/package.json
Checking /home/me/my/workspace/root/public/package.json
[====================] 53/53 100%

 # list of dependencies omitted for readability
Run ncu --workspaces --target minor -u to upgrade public/package.json

[raineorshine]

Hi, thanks for reporting. That definitely looks like a bug!

I don't have time to investigate currently with my current work commitments. The original implementation was done in b1adf7e if you'd like to look into it. Otherwise, I can put it on my long term list of things to do.

You could also try using --cwd instead of --packageFile.