Configuration Hints

Knip emits configuration hints to help keep your configuration file tidy and reduce drift.

They’re warnings by default, not lint findings. But addressing the hints might improve results significantly. The hints on this page are sorted by impact/importance (most impactful first).

Each hint shows the value, followed by a message that points to the location in the configuration file:

generated/**  Remove from knip.json → packages/app → ignore (gitignored)
lodash        Remove from knip.json → ignoreDependencies

The location reads as file → workspace → option. The workspace segment is the key in workspaces (such as packages/*), or (root) for workspaces["."]. Options at the top level have no workspace segment.

Use --treat-config-hints-as-errors or treatConfigHintsAsErrors to make any configuration hint an error and result in a non-zero exit code to fail CI.

Unconfigured projects

Too many unused files in a single workspace-codebase, caused by a missing configuration file or incomplete configuration:

Create knip.json configuration file, and add entry and/or refine project files (42 unused files)

Or if you have a config file:

Add entry and/or refine project files in knip.json (42 unused files)

Solution: Add and refine entry and/or project patterns.

Related resources:

• Configuration
• Monorepos & Workspaces

Unconfigured workspaces

Too many unused files in a monorepo, caused by a missing configuration file or incomplete configuration:

Create knip.json configuration file with workspaces["packages/app"] object (42 unused files)

Or if you have a config file:

Add entry and/or refine project files in knip.json → workspaces["packages/app"] (42 unused files)

Solution: add a workspaces object to configuration. Add and refine entry and/or project patterns. For instance, the example message translates to configuration like this:

{
  "workspaces": {
    "packages/app": {
      "entry": ["src/App.tsx"],
      "project": ["src/**/*.ts"]
    }
  }
}

Related resources:

• Configuring Project Files
• Monorepos & Workspaces

Top-level entry/project

In monorepos, Knip uses only entry and project under workspaces. The top-level keys with the same name are ignored.

Remove unused knip.json → entry, or move to "workspaces"
Remove unused knip.json → project, or move to "workspaces"

Solution: Remove top-level entry and project keys, use these options in workspaces instead.

{
  "entry": ["src/App.tsx"], // move entry/project from here... ↴
  "project": ["src/**/*.ts"],
  "workspaces": {
    ".": {
      "entry": ["src/App.tsx"], // ...to the correct workspace(s) ↲
      "project": ["src/**/*.ts"],
    },
  },
}

Stale workspace configuration

A key in the workspaces configuration matches no workspace in the project, for instance after the workspace was removed or renamed.

Remove from knip.json → workspaces

Solution: Remove the stale key from workspaces, or correct its path.

Unused ignore patterns

A pattern in ignore or ignoreFiles did not suppress any issue.

Remove from knip.json → ignore (gitignored)
Remove from knip.json → ignore (no issues)
Remove from knip.json → ignore (no matches)
Remove from knip.json → ignoreFiles (files are used)

The reason in parentheses tells why the pattern is not needed:

• gitignored: the pattern is already matched in some .gitignore file
• no issues: matching files exist, but there are no issues to ignore
• files are used: matching files exist, and they’re used
• no matches: the pattern matches no files

Solution: Remove the pattern from the array.

Unused entry in ignore group

An entry of an ignore list is no longer needed, remove it.

Remove from knip.json → ignoreWorkspaces
Remove from knip.json → ignoreDependencies
Remove from knip.json → ignoreBinaries
Remove from knip.json → ignoreUnresolved

Solution: Remove the entry from the array.

Useless patterns

A glob pattern in entry or project does not match any files.

Refine knip.json → entry pattern (no matches)
Refine knip.json → project pattern (no matches)

Solution: Refine or remove the entry or project entry.

Redundant patterns

A glob/pattern is redundant, because it’s already covered by defaults or added by an enabled plugin.

Remove redundant pattern from knip.json → entry
Remove redundant pattern from knip.json → project

Solution: Remove the entry or project entry.

Missing package entry file

Package entry file not found in packages/app/package.json

Solution: Refine or remove the entry in package.json.