Renovate "No dependencies found" in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

Renovate scanned the repository and matched no manifests to a supported manager, so it has nothing to update. Usually a manager is disabled, the file lives outside the default patterns, or ignorePaths excludes it.

What this error means

Renovate logs "No dependencies found" or "no package files detected", and opens no dependency PRs even though manifests exist in the repo.

INFO: No dependencies found in package files
  repository: myorg/service-api

Common causes

ignorePaths or a disabled manager excludes the manifests

The manifests fall under an ignorePaths glob, or the relevant manager is disabled, so Renovate never reads them.

Manifests are in nonstandard locations

Files outside the default fileMatch for a manager are not detected unless you extend the pattern.

How to fix it

Enable the manager and widen fileMatch

1. Confirm the manager for your ecosystem is enabled.
2. Remove or narrow ignorePaths entries covering real manifests.
3. Add a fileMatch for nonstandard manifest locations.

{
  "$schema": "https://docs.renovatebot.com/renovate-schema.json",
  "pip_requirements": {
    "fileMatch": ["(^|/)requirements/[^/]*\\.txt$"]
  }
}

Review ignorePaths

Default ignorePaths skips paths like /node_modules/. Confirm your manifests are not accidentally covered by a broad ignore glob.

How to prevent it

• Keep manifests within detected paths or extend fileMatch.
• Audit ignorePaths so it does not hide real manifests.
• Confirm the relevant managers are enabled for the repo.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation