Angular Error: Unknown argument: prod when running ng build

# Angular Error: Unknown argument: prod when running ng build

The Angular "Error: Unknown argument: prod" occurs because the --prod option has been deprecated starting with Angular 12 and is removed in Angular 14.

To solve the error, set the --configuration option to production.

angular error unknown argument prod

Open your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is) and issue the following command instead.

shell

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npx ng build --configuration production

set configuration option to production

The ng build command is used to compile an Angular application or library.

The command outputs the build files into a dist/ directory.

angular dist directory

We used the --configuration option when issuing the command.

The option is used to specify one or more build configurations as a comma-separated list as specified in the configuration section in your angular.json file.

configurations section in angular json

The --configuration option can also be set using the -c alias.

The following 2 commands are equivalent.

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npx ng build --configuration production

npx ng build -c production

issue ng build command with c alias set to production

The --prod option was deprecated in Angular version 12 and was then removed in Angular version 14.

You can check the version of your Angular CLI by issuing the following command.

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ng version

print angular version

As shown in the previous commands, the --prod option has been replaced by --configuration production.

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npx ng build --configuration production

npx ng build -c production

You can view all of the other options the ng build command supports in this table in the Angular CLI docs.

# Adding a production script to your `package.json` file

An alternative to manually setting the --configuration option to production is to define a production or build-production script in your package.json file.

Open your package.json file and add the following prod script to your scripts object.

package.json

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{
  "scripts": {
    "ng": "ng",
    "start": "ng serve",
    "build": "ng build",
    "watch": "ng build --watch --configuration development",
    "test": "ng test",
    "prod": "ng build --configuration production"
  },
}

add prod script to package json

The prod script issues the ng build command with --configuration set to production.

Now you can issue the npm run prod command to compile your Angular application.

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npm run prod

issue npm run prod command to compile angular app

# Updating your version of the Angular CLI

If the error persists, try to update your version of the Angular CLI.

Open your terminal and issue the following command.

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npm install -g @angular/cli@latest

If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo (on macOS or Linux) or open CMD as an administrator (on Windows).

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# for macOS or Linux
sudo npm install -g @angular/cli@latest

Once you update your Angular CLI, try to rerun the ng build command.

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npx ng build --configuration production

set configuration option to production

If you get the error This command is not available when running the Angular CLI outside a workspace, click on the link and follow the instructions.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

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Angular Error: Unknown argument: prod when running ng build