How do I run block release in a monorepo? (Using npm workspaces)

[Eugene_Kim]

I’m running issues when running block release to deploy my Airtable app.

I’m using npm workspaces as I develop my Custom Airtable App since I’m using a monorepo to make code management and sharing convenient.

Here’s the basic folder structure for my project:

• project_root/
  • packages/ - houses workspaces
    • common/
      • contains code shared by airtable_app and server workspaces
      • package name: @shoptable/common
    • airtable_app/ - contains the airtable block app
    • server/ - another workspace

Here are the steps I take before running block release:

1. npm i from project_root
2. cd packages/airtable_app
3. block release

I run into the following error:

building
copying package.json file
copying package-lock.json file

❌ Error: package-lock.json does not exist!
Failed to build the block code!

There’s only a package-lock.json generated at the project_root level. How can I get around this issue with my development environment?

Current Workaround

The only way I’ve found that works is to run npm pack on my @shoptable/common package and reference it in airtable_app/package.json's dependencies as such:

{
...
  "@shoptable/common": "file:../common/shoptable-common-1.0.0.tgz",
...
}

This isn’t ideal given that during development I’d like to simply refer to the workspace via the version number so as to make sure that I have the latest changes I’m working on.

Is there a better way to run block release given my monorepo setup?

Other things I’ve tried that didn’t work

In airtable_app/package.json I’ve tried declaring @shoptable/common as a local dependency like so:

{
...
  "@shoptable/common": "file:../common",
...
}

And then running npm i from within the airtable_app/ dir. This gets me a little further but I get the following failure after running :

building
copying package.json file
copying package-lock.json file
installing node modules
[npm]
[npm] added 164 packages, and audited 166 packages in 2s
[npm]
[npm] 6 packages are looking for funding
[npm]   run `npm fund` for details
[npm]
[npm] found 0 vulnerabilities
transpiling and building frontend bundle
Bundle Error: Cannot find module '@shoptable/common' from '/private/var/folders/1t/rfq1yymx391fmcn0lj_9trm80000gn/T/airtableBlocks/build/1622060082006/transpiled/user/src'

❌ Error: Cannot find module '@shoptable/common' from '/private/var/folders/1t/rfq1yymx391fmcn0lj_9trm80000gn/T/airtableBlocks/build/1622060082006/transpiled/user/src'
Failed to build the block code!

[Taylor_Savage · Accepted solution]

Hey there! We’re currently working on a new version of the CLI that generally is much more flexible around the types of builds it supports - hoping to have a beta release for this as early as next week.

In the meantime though - try running block release --disable-isolated-build with the current CLI?

[Eugene_Kim]

Hi @Taylor_Savage , that worked! Many thanks. Could you provide additional details on what that flag does?

It’s great to hear that more flexibility is on the way :slightly_smiling_face: How can I stay in the loop with these changes? The @airtable/blocks-cli project doesn’t seem to be publicly accessible.

[Eugene_Kim]

@Taylor_Savage does the --disable-isolated-build flag work for block submit as well?