feat(vscode): add workspaceRoot config option to enable use in a VSCode workspace that does not have package.json at the workspace root

[anmilleriii]

Problem

When opening a VSCode workspace of the following structure with the extension, where the workspace root does not contain a package manifest file

repository/                 # <-- repository is workspace root, but no package.json at that level
    typescript/
        package.json
        knip.json
        packages/
        app/
            package.json
        ...
    ...

Knip will fail with

2026-04-03 16:13:23.402 [info] Initializing extension
2026-04-03 16:13:23.402 [info] Starting Knip Language Server for repository
2026-04-03 16:13:23.653 [info] Managing 1 workspace(s): /Users/alm/Desktop/__/repository
2026-04-03 16:13:23.655 [info] Using bundled knip v6.1.0
2026-04-03 16:13:23.655 [info] Creating options
2026-04-03 16:13:23.656 [info] [Error - 4:13:23 PM] Error: Error: Unable to find package.json

Solution

This adds a workspaceRoot option to the VSCode settings config to specify a knip root other than the currently open VSCode workspace.

This config:

{
  "knip.workspaceRoot": "./typescript"
}

Yields

2026-04-03 17:51:02.077 [info] Initializing extension
2026-04-03 17:51:02.077 [info] Starting Knip Language Server for repository
2026-04-03 17:51:02.222 [info] Managing 1 workspace(s): /Users/alm/Desktop/__/repository (Knip root: /Users/alm/Desktop/__/repository/typescript)
2026-04-03 17:51:02.633 [info] Using local knip v6.0.4
2026-04-03 17:51:02.633 [info] Creating options
2026-04-03 17:51:02.828 [info] Building module graph...
2026-04-03 17:51:05.876 [info] Finished building module graph (3048ms)

[webpro]

Thanks for PR! Agreed this is good to have. Took the time to dive into the VS Code extension, and this is a slightly more minimal version. Can you please confirm this works for you as well?

[pkg-pr-new]

Open in StackBlitz

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/knip@1667

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@knip/language-server@1667

npm i https://pkg.pr.new/@knip/mcp@1667

commit: 1a77812

[anmilleriii]

@webpro thanks, lgtm.

I had to make a slight adjustment to the reproduction code workspace file, setting knip.requireConfig to false and setting the path. Before this commit, I was hitting:

2026-06-02 14:00:02.926 [info] Stopping 1 client(s)...
2026-06-02 14:00:07.776 [info] Initializing extension
2026-06-02 14:00:07.776 [info] No config found in repository, skipping
2026-06-02 14:00:07.776 [info] Managing 0 workspace(s): 

when opening the workspace from the file.

[webpro]

The settings you've changed in the fixture are both default values. Can you please verify this version works with only the knip.cwd setting?

[anmilleriii]

You are correct. I did not realize that my user level vscode settings were set and overriding the default values for knip.requireConfig and knip.configFilePath.

Removing those user level settings resulted in this working as-is. I have reverted the workspace file settings from 96b6f0e.

[webpro]

Thanks Albert! 🚀