From 80f0e5fb4598b6861c60147df17ab3ea6592d779 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ladybluenotes <hello@sarahgerrard.me>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:11:48 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: recognize workspace-root Intent devDependency

---
 .changeset/workspace-root-intent-warning.md |  5 ++
 packages/intent/src/commands/validate.ts    | 17 ++++++-
 packages/intent/tests/cli.test.ts           | 56 +++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 77 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/workspace-root-intent-warning.md

diff --git a/.changeset/workspace-root-intent-warning.md b/.changeset/workspace-root-intent-warning.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6d5e52cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/workspace-root-intent-warning.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@tanstack/intent': patch
+---
+
+Recognize Intent installed as a devDependency at the owning workspace root when validating package skills.
diff --git a/packages/intent/src/commands/validate.ts b/packages/intent/src/commands/validate.ts
index 71c6344e..fe451a19 100644
--- a/packages/intent/src/commands/validate.ts
+++ b/packages/intent/src/commands/validate.ts
@@ -98,8 +98,24 @@ function collectPackagingWarnings(context: ProjectContext): Array<string> {
   if (!existsSync(pkgJsonPath)) return []
 
   let pkgJson: Record<string, unknown>
+  let devDeps: Record<string, string> | undefined
   try {
     pkgJson = JSON.parse(readFileSync(pkgJsonPath, 'utf8'))
+    devDeps = pkgJson.devDependencies as Record<string, string> | undefined
+    if (
+      !devDeps?.['@tanstack/intent'] &&
+      context.workspaceRoot &&
+      context.workspaceRoot !== context.packageRoot
+    ) {
+      const workspaceManifestPath = join(context.workspaceRoot, 'package.json')
+      if (existsSync(workspaceManifestPath)) {
+        const workspaceManifest = JSON.parse(
+          readFileSync(workspaceManifestPath, 'utf8'),
+        ) as Record<string, unknown>
+        devDeps = workspaceManifest.devDependencies as
+          Record<string, string> | undefined
+      }
+    }
   } catch (err) {
     const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)
     return [`Could not parse package.json: ${msg}`]
@@ -107,7 +123,6 @@ function collectPackagingWarnings(context: ProjectContext): Array<string> {
 
   const warnings: Array<string> = []
 
-  const devDeps = pkgJson.devDependencies as Record<string, string> | undefined
   if (!devDeps?.['@tanstack/intent']) {
     warnings.push('@tanstack/intent is not in devDependencies')
   }
diff --git a/packages/intent/tests/cli.test.ts b/packages/intent/tests/cli.test.ts
index 1d77ac6e..6588258b 100644
--- a/packages/intent/tests/cli.test.ts
+++ b/packages/intent/tests/cli.test.ts
@@ -3197,6 +3197,62 @@ describe('cli commands', () => {
     expect(output).toContain('Framework skills must have a "requires" field')
   })
 
+  it.each(['package.json', 'pnpm-workspace.yaml'])(
+    'recognizes Intent at the workspace root declared by %s',
+    async (workspaceFile) => {
+      const root = mkdtempSync(
+        join(realTmpdir, 'intent-cli-validate-root-dep-'),
+      )
+      tempDirs.push(root)
+      const manifest = {
+        private: true,
+        ...(workspaceFile === 'package.json'
+          ? { workspaces: ['packages/*'] }
+          : {}),
+        devDependencies: { '@tanstack/intent': '^0.4.0' },
+      }
+      writeJson(join(root, 'package.json'), manifest)
+      if (workspaceFile === 'pnpm-workspace.yaml')
+        writeFileSync(
+          join(root, 'pnpm-workspace.yaml'),
+          'packages:\n  - packages/*\n',
+        )
+      const packageDir = join(root, 'packages', 'client')
+      writeJson(join(packageDir, 'package.json'), {
+        name: 'client',
+        keywords: ['tanstack-intent'],
+        files: ['skills'],
+      })
+      writeSkillMd(join(packageDir, 'skills', 'query'), {
+        name: 'query',
+        description: 'Query the client.',
+      })
+
+      for (const cwd of [root, packageDir]) {
+        process.chdir(cwd)
+        logSpy.mockClear()
+        expect(await main(['validate'])).toBe(0)
+        expect(logSpy.mock.calls.flat().join('\n')).not.toContain(
+          '@tanstack/intent is not in devDependencies',
+        )
+      }
+
+      writeJson(join(root, 'package.json'), {
+        ...manifest,
+        devDependencies: {},
+      })
+      writeJson(join(root, 'packages', 'tooling', 'package.json'), {
+        name: 'tooling',
+        devDependencies: { '@tanstack/intent': '^0.4.0' },
+      })
+      logSpy.mockClear()
+      expect(await main(['validate'])).toBe(0)
+      expect(logSpy.mock.calls.flat().join('\n')).toContain(
+        '@tanstack/intent is not in devDependencies',
+      )
+    },
+  )
+
   it('validates package skills from repo root without root packaging warnings', async () => {
     const root = mkdtempSync(join(realTmpdir, 'intent-cli-validate-mono-'))
     tempDirs.push(root)