lerna import always returns EDESTDIR - node.js

Question

I have a pre-existing project that I'd like to import into my existing lerna monorepo that uses yarn workspaces.
Command(s):
I've tried running all of the following commands. The error remains stubbornly unchanged. Also, petstore has a package.json file and is a git repo.
lerna import ./petstore --dest="./packages/"
lerna import ./petstore --dest="./packages/api/"
ERROR:
lerna notice cli v3.20.2
lerna ERR! EDESTDIR --dest does not match with the package directories: packages/**
Also, lerna import ../petstore results in a packages/**/petstore being created which is not an expected result.
I hope this consists of all the relevant code. We have supporting packages under packages/shared and apis under packages/api.
lerna.json
{
"packages": [
"packages/**/*"
],
"npmClient": "yarn",
"useWorkspaces": true,
"private": true,
"version": "0.0.1",
"lerna": "2.11.0"
}
package.json
{
"name": "root",
"devDependencies": {
"lerna": "^2.11.0"
},
"workspaces": [
"packages/**/*"
],
}
Resources I have looked at:
Lerna troubleshooting page but it does not have any info on this error.
Lerna Github Issue #1872
Lerna Github Issue #1197
Lerna Slack Link Broken

Answer 1

Lerna reads the packages from the key workspaces on package.json instead of the packages on lerna.json.
lerna reads all the values with a /* and considers them package directories. It interprets ** literally and does not parse it as a wildcard and expand it.
The solution is to remove packages from lerna.json:
{
"npmClient": "yarn",
"useWorkspaces": true,
"private": true,
"version": "0.0.1",
"lerna": "2.11.0"
}
and update the workspaces path to refer to any sub-directories in your packages explicitly if your monorepo is structured that way:
{
"name": "root",
"devDependencies": {
"lerna": "^2.11.0"
},
"workspaces": [
"packages/a/*",
"packages/api/*"
],
}
To import the pet-store project into packages/api in the monorepo from a directory outside the mono-repo:
lerna import ../pet-store --dest="./packages/api/"