Migrations are failing because the repository must be installed with npm i -f

[danielritter]

Current Behavior

I have a repository where packages must be installed using npm i -f. When running migrations, they fail because the pre-migration installation process does not use the force flag.

Expected Behavior

nx migrate --run-migrations should support a --force flag to force the npm installation process, or it should do so by default so that the migrations process does also work for repositories that must be installed with npm i -f.

GitHub Repo

No response

Steps to Reproduce

1. repo that has to be installed with npm i -f
2. run nx migrate --run-migrations
3. migrations fails

Nx Report

Node           : 24.11.0
OS             : win32-x64
Native Target  : x86_64-windows
npm            : 11.6.2

nx (global)            : 22.3.1
nx                     : 22.3.1
@nx/js                 : 22.3.1
@nx/eslint             : 22.3.1
@nx/workspace          : 22.3.1
@nx/angular            : 22.3.1
@nx/jest               : 22.3.1
@nx/cypress            : 22.3.1
@nx/devkit             : 22.3.1
@nx/eslint-plugin      : 22.3.1
@nx/module-federation  : 22.3.1
@nx/nest               : 22.3.1
@nx/node               : 22.3.1
@nx/plugin             : 22.3.1
@nx/rspack             : 22.3.1
@nx/storybook          : 22.3.1
@nx/web                : 22.3.1
@nx/webpack            : 22.3.1
@nx/docker             : 22.3.1
typescript             : 5.9.3
---------------------------------------
Registered Plugins:
@workspace/targets
@workspace/schematics
@nx/webpack/plugin
@nx/eslint/plugin
---------------------------------------
Community plugins:
@compodoc/compodoc   : 1.1.32
@ng-doc/builder      : 20.1.1
@ngrx/effects        : 20.1.0
@ngrx/entity         : 20.1.0
@ngrx/operators      : 20.1.0
@ngrx/router-store   : 20.1.0
@ngrx/schematics     : 20.1.0
@ngrx/signals        : 20.1.0
@ngrx/store          : 20.1.0
@ngrx/store-devtools : 20.1.0
@storybook/angular   : 10.0.8
angular-eslint       : 21.0.1
---------------------------------------
Local workspace plugins:
@workspace/schematics
---------------------------------------
Cache Usage: 0.00 B / 95.19 GB

Failure Logs

Package Manager Version

npm 11.6.2

Operating System

• macOS
• Linux
• Windows
• Other (Please specify)

Additional Information

No response

[leosvelperez]

Thanks for reporting!

This is a bit nuanced. Automatically running npm i --force is not a safe thing for Nx to do automatically (without user intervention/authorization), given that it bypasses several protection measures.

We understand it can be problematic with the automatic pre-installation Nx performs when running nx migrate --run-migrations, but for the time being, please follow the following approach:

• nx migrate latest
• npm i (should always be the preferred way)
• if it fails due to npm strict policy with peer dependencies, there are a few ways to bypass that:
  • Use overrides in package.json to force a compatible version across the tree
  • npm i --legacy-peer-deps to bypass peer resolution (short‑term, riskier)
  • npm i --force (last resort; can produce broken installs)
• NX_MIGRATE_SKIP_INSTALL=true nx migrate --run-migrations

We're planning to improve this process by making it more ergonomic and providing actionable feedback to users. However, the main thing is that users would need to decide on an approach to address or bypass the peer dependencies resolution.

[danielritter]

Thank you for the very fast response!👍 The command NX_MIGRATE_SKIP_INSTALL=true nx migrate --run-migrations will help a lot! I think the environment variable should be added in the documentation here as well: https://nx.dev/docs/reference/environment-variables

[pete-mcwilliams]

I think there is something else to consider, my npm install passes prior to migration without -f or --legacy-peer-deps.
I have just started to migrate to latest. The package.json file is left in an un-installable state by the step npx nx migrate latest

namely the migration updates libraries that depend on angular/cli version later than the version nx wants to run the migrations against. So I try revert the eslint libraries and will update later after migration, then it fails on @angular/pwa then on @angular/material.

your tip will allow me to go past that, where I can --legacy-peer-deps install myself and avoid the npx nx migrate --run-migrations step running an install that will fail... but perhaps the install should not be run as part of a migration and perhaps nx should check the installed versions of the libraries it needs to run the migrations have been installed instead of the install. I leave command line output.

> npm install                     

> angular-tailwind-example@0.24.0 prepare
> node .husky/install.mjs

husky - Git hooks installed

up to date, audited 2481 packages in 3s

530 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

12 high severity vulnerabilities

To address all issues, run:
  npm audit fix --force

Run `npm audit` for details.
> npx nx migrate latest           
Fetching meta data about packages.
It may take a few minutes.
Fetching nx@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/module-federation@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/plugin@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/web@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/devkit@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/jest@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/eslint@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/angular@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/js@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/cypress@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/eslint-plugin@22.3.1
Fetching @nx/workspace@22.3.1
Fetching @angular/google-maps@21.0.5
Fetching @angular/core@21.0.6
Fetching @angular-eslint/schematics@21.1.0
Fetching @angular/cdk@21.0.5
Fetching @angular/material@21.0.5

 NX   The migrate command has run successfully.

- package.json has been updated.
- migrations.json has been generated.


 NX   Next steps:

- Make sure package.json changes make sense and then run 'npm install',
- Run 'npx nx migrate --run-migrations'
- To learn more go to https://nx.dev/features/automate-updating-dependencies

> npm install          
npm error code ERESOLVE
npm error ERESOLVE unable to resolve dependency tree
npm error
npm error While resolving: angular-tailwind-example@0.24.0
npm error Found: @angular/cli@20.3.13
npm error node_modules/@angular/cli
npm error   dev @angular/cli@"~20.3.0" from the root project
npm error
npm error Could not resolve dependency:
npm error peer @angular/cli@">= 21.0.0 < 22.0.0" from @angular-eslint/builder@21.1.0
npm error node_modules/@angular-eslint/builder
npm error   dev @angular-eslint/builder@"21.1.0" from the root project
npm error
npm error Fix the upstream dependency conflict, or retry
npm error this command with --force or --legacy-peer-deps
npm error to accept an incorrect (and potentially broken) dependency resolution.
npm error
npm error
npm error For a full report see:
npm error /Users/<snip>/.npm/_logs/2025-12-19T14_25_51_664Z-eresolve-report.txt
npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /Users/<snip>/.npm/_logs/2025-12-19T14_25_51_664Z-debug-0.log

[leosvelperez]

@pete-mcwilliams that's what NX_MIGRATE_SKIP_INSTALL=true is for. It allows you to skip the installation. Npm is not the only package manager Nx supports, and the other package managers aren't as strict as Npm is with the peer dependencies. If you don't want nx migrate --run-migrations to run an installation, you can set that env var, and you're good to go.

Regarding the issue you mentioned with Angular ESLint packages and the @angular/cli package, we have fixed it at #33918 and will release it in 21.3.2 soon.

[SerkanSipahi]

@leosvelperez

I am also getting errors when running npm i after running npx nx@latest migrate latest. Do you think my errors are related to your fix? Normally, these peer dependencies are easy to resolve, but this time I don't know where the problem comes from.

npm error code ERESOLVE
npm error ERESOLVE could not resolve
npm error
npm error While resolving: avo@0.0.14
npm error Found: @angular-devkit/build-angular@20.3.10
npm error node_modules/@angular-devkit/build-angular
npm error   @angular-devkit/build-angular@"~21.0.4" from the root project
npm error   peerOptional @angular-devkit/build-angular@">= 18.0.0 < 21.0.0" from @nx/angular@22.0.3
npm error   node_modules/@nx/angular
npm error     @nx/angular@"~22.3.3" from the root project
npm error
npm error Could not resolve dependency:
npm error @angular-devkit/build-angular@"~21.0.4" from the root project
npm error
npm error Conflicting peer dependency: @angular/compiler-cli@21.0.6
npm error node_modules/@angular/compiler-cli
npm error   peer @angular/compiler-cli@"^21.0.0" from @angular-devkit/build-angular@21.0.4
npm error   node_modules/@angular-devkit/build-angular
npm error     @angular-devkit/build-angular@"~21.0.4" from the root project
npm error
npm error Fix the upstream dependency conflict, or retry
npm error this command with --force or --legacy-peer-deps
npm error to accept an incorrect (and potentially broken) dependency resolution.

[pete-mcwilliams]

It looks like a mismatch in nx/angular versions, assuming your package.json file only has reference to 22.3.3 the following might help.

I performed a clean npm install to progress when I had ran npx nx migrate latest for perhaps a similar reason, can't say for sure, I had assumed because I had update to the previous version then reverted and went to latest that my node_modules folder was in a bad state.

you could try something like this
npx -y rimraf node_modules && npx -y rimraf package-lock.json && npm cache clean --force && npm install

[SerkanSipahi]

@pete-mcwilliams I am always running rm -rf node_modules .angular .nx && npm i but never had an caching issue with npm. Thanks cleaning cache of npm worked for me.

[leosvelperez]

@SerkanSipahi the logs you shared show the (strange) behavior from npm, particularly these lines:

npm error   peerOptional @angular-devkit/build-angular@">= 18.0.0 < 21.0.0" from @nx/angular@22.0.3
npm error   node_modules/@nx/angular
npm error     @nx/angular@"~22.3.3" from the root project

You're migrating to Nx 22.3.3 as stated by the line npm error @nx/angular@"~22.3.3" from the root project, but npm is using and conflicting with Nx 22.0.3 (peerOptional @angular-devkit/build-angular@">= 18.0.0 < 21.0.0" from @nx/angular@22.0.3), which will be nowhere in your package.json, but it's in the lock file. So, npm is reporting a conflict with the peer dependency that will be resolved by the new/updated Nx 22.3.3 vs what it had resolved for the previously installed Nx 22.0.3. Why does npm do so? No idea. Nx 22.3.3 doesn't have a mismatch with Angular versions. It's just a weird resolution from npm.