Sitecore CLI can't locate plugin that actually exists

Question

I'm following the documentation on how to set up Sitecore CLI: https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/102/developer-tools/install-sitecore-command-line-interface.html

After doing all the steps I've come to step 5 where you can do a dotnet sitecore plugin list to list the installed plugins. When I do this I get the following message:

>> Begin installing NuGet packages: [email protected]
>>> Skipping NuGet package [email protected] because it is already installed.
Could not locate plugin [email protected]. Some CLI commands may not function correctly.

This message then appears in all CLI commands, even when doing something simple as dotnet sitecore -h.

The message says that it should install a package, then it says the package is already installed, finally it says the plugin couldn't be found. The package should obviously be able to be found as it is already installed. I've also checked the .sitecore\package-cache\nuget\Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Database.5.0.16 folder, which exists, and it has a the corresponding .nupkg and .nuspec files.

I can remove the plugin with the following command: dotnet sitecore plugin remove -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Database. Running dotnet sitecore plugin list no longer has the errors. When I readd the plugin using dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Database the error reappears.

So why does Sitecore CLI keep complaining that a plugin can't be located when it is in fact installed?

Answer 1

This is a bug in Sitecore CLI v5.0.16 and it is fixed in v5.1.25. The new version has the following information in "Resolved issues" in the release notes:

Could not locate plugin [email protected] 540750

So if you still have this issue, upgrade your Sitecore CLI:

dotnet tool update sitecore.cli

This only updates the CLI, not the plugin refereneces in sitecore.json, so you have to manually update these (inlucing the Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Database) to the same version (I assume) as the Sitecore CLI. At the moment the latest version is 5.1.25, so make sure that all entries in plugins ends with @5.1.25.

You can check which version of Sitecore CLI you have installed by running this command:

dotnet tool list

Answer 2

Update your Sitecore Cli to latest version using this command dotnet tool update sitecore.cli Alternatively, update or add each plugin manually:

dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Serialization --version {version}
dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Publishing --version {version}
dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Indexing --version {version}
dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.ResourcePackage --version {version}

To check Sitecore CLI version use

dotnet sitecore --version

Also dont forget to Update the Sitecore Management Services module.