Nx release publish missing nx-release-publish target

[olivier-lxo]

Current Behavior

I'm trying to run nx release in two steps so that I don't generate a changelog.
When trying to run nx release publish after nx release version I get an error stating that the nx-release-publish target is missing.

Expected Behavior

Running nx release publish should be possible.

GitHub Repo

Here is the reproduction repository: https://github.com/olivier-lxo/nx-publish-error-repro

Steps to Reproduce

1. Repository initiated with npx create-nx-workspace nx-publish-error-repro --preset=ts (no code formatting, CI provider or remote caching)

2. Added lib with npx nx g @nx/js:lib packages/mytslib (and manually fixed node types to v22, maybe could be fixed as well?)

3. Adding minimal release config "projects": [ "packages/*" ] to nx.json

4. Bumping version with npx nx release version

5. Attempt at publishing package with npx nx release publish (doesn't matter if using --dry-run or not) fails with error:

$ npx nx release publish  --verbose

 NX   Based on your config, the following projects were matched for publishing but do not have the "nx-release-publish" target specified:

- @nx-publish-error-repro/mytslib

This is usually caused by not having an appropriate plugin, such as "@nx/js" installed, which will add the appropriate "nx-release-publish" target for you automatically.

Error: Based on your config, the following projects were matched for publishing but do not have the "nx-release-publish" target specified:
- @nx-publish-error-repro/mytslib

This is usually caused by not having an appropriate plugin, such as "@nx/js" installed, which will add the appropriate "nx-release-publish" target for you automatically.

    at runPublishOnProjects (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:153:15)
    at releasePublish (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:96:49)
    at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
    at /tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:21:35
    at handleErrors (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/utils/handle-errors.js:8:24)
    at Object.handler (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/command-object.js:199:24)

Nx Report

Node           : 22.13.1
OS             : linux-x64
Native Target  : x86_64-linux
npm            : 10.9.2

nx             : 20.4.6
@nx/js         : 20.4.6
@nx/workspace  : 20.4.6
@nx/devkit     : 20.4.6
typescript     : 5.7.3
---------------------------------------
Registered Plugins:
@nx/js/typescript

Failure Logs

$ npx nx release publish  --verbose

 NX   Based on your config, the following projects were matched for publishing but do not have the "nx-release-publish" target specified:

- @nx-publish-error-repro/mytslib

This is usually caused by not having an appropriate plugin, such as "@nx/js" installed, which will add the appropriate "nx-release-publish" target for you automatically.

Error: Based on your config, the following projects were matched for publishing but do not have the "nx-release-publish" target specified:
- @nx-publish-error-repro/mytslib

This is usually caused by not having an appropriate plugin, such as "@nx/js" installed, which will add the appropriate "nx-release-publish" target for you automatically.

    at runPublishOnProjects (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:153:15)
    at releasePublish (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:96:49)
    at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
    at /tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/publish.js:21:35
    at handleErrors (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/utils/handle-errors.js:8:24)
    at Object.handler (/tmp/nx-publish-error-repro/node_modules/nx/src/command-line/release/command-object.js:199:24)

Package Manager Version

10.9.2

Operating System

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

Additional Information

No response

[olivier-lxo]

I just had the same error while invoking nx release without any sub-command even though it did run previously.