feat(create): support creating project in current directory

packages/cli/snap-tests-global/create-from-monorepo-subdir/snap.txt

@@ -19,3 +19,19 @@ Not in scripts/helper/
 > cd scripts/helper && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory apps/custom-app # --directory from non-workspace dir
 > test -f apps/custom-app/package.json && echo 'Created at apps/custom-app with --directory' || echo 'NOT at apps/custom-app'
 Created at apps/custom-app with --directory
+
+> mkdir -p apps/dot-test && cd apps/dot-test && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . # --directory . from monorepo subdir
+> test -f apps/dot-test/package.json && echo 'Created at apps/dot-test with --directory .' || echo 'NOT at apps/dot-test'
+Created at apps/dot-test with --directory .
+
+> vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . from monorepo root should fail
+Cannot scaffold into the monorepo root directory. Use --directory to specify a target directory
+
+
+> mkdir -p apps/website/src && cd apps/website/src && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . inside existing package should fail
+Cannot scaffold inside existing package "website" (apps/website). Use --directory to specify a different location
+
+
+> cd apps/website && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . at existing package root should fail
+Cannot scaffold inside existing package "website" (apps/website). Use --directory to specify a different location
+

packages/cli/snap-tests-global/create-from-monorepo-subdir/steps.json

@@ -25,6 +25,18 @@
       "command": "cd scripts/helper && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory apps/custom-app # --directory from non-workspace dir",
       "ignoreOutput": true
     },
-    "test -f apps/custom-app/package.json && echo 'Created at apps/custom-app with --directory' || echo 'NOT at apps/custom-app'"
+    "test -f apps/custom-app/package.json && echo 'Created at apps/custom-app with --directory' || echo 'NOT at apps/custom-app'",
+
+    {
+      "command": "mkdir -p apps/dot-test && cd apps/dot-test && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . # --directory . from monorepo subdir",
+      "ignoreOutput": true
+    },
+    "test -f apps/dot-test/package.json && echo 'Created at apps/dot-test with --directory .' || echo 'NOT at apps/dot-test'",
+
+    "vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . from monorepo root should fail",
+
+    "mkdir -p apps/website/src && cd apps/website/src && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . inside existing package should fail",
+
+    "cd apps/website && vp create --no-interactive vite:application --directory . 2>&1 || true # --directory . at existing package root should fail"
   ]
 }

packages/cli/snap-tests-global/new-create-vite-directory-dot/snap.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+> mkdir -p my-app && cd my-app && vp create vite:application --no-interactive --directory . # create vite app in current directory
+> test -f my-app/package.json && echo 'Created at my-app with --directory .' || echo 'NOT at my-app'
+Created at my-app with --directory .

packages/cli/snap-tests-global/new-create-vite-directory-dot/steps.json

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "commands": [
+    {
+      "command": "mkdir -p my-app && cd my-app && vp create vite:application --no-interactive --directory . # create vite app in current directory",
+      "ignoreOutput": true
+    },
+    "test -f my-app/package.json && echo 'Created at my-app with --directory .' || echo 'NOT at my-app'"
+  ]
+}

packages/cli/src/create/__tests__/__snapshots__/utils.spec.ts.snap

@@ -1,30 +1,22 @@
 // Vitest Snapshot v1, https://vitest.dev/guide/snapshot.html
 
 exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 1`] = `
-{
-  "directory": "",
-  "error": "Parsed package name "." is invalid: name cannot start with a period",
-  "packageName": "",
-}
-`;
-
-exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 2`] = `
 {
   "directory": "",
   "error": "Absolute path is not allowed",
   "packageName": "",
 }
 `;
 
-exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 3`] = `
+exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 2`] = `
 {
   "directory": "",
   "error": "Parsed package name "@scope" is invalid: name can only contain URL-friendly characters",
   "packageName": "",
 }
 `;
 
-exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 4`] = `
+exports[`formatTargetDir > should format target dir with invalid input 3`] = `
 {
   "directory": "",
   "error": "Relative path contains ".." which is not allowed",

packages/cli/src/create/__tests__/utils.spec.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
 
-import { formatTargetDir, getProjectDirFromPackageName } from '../utils.js';
+import {
+  deriveDefaultPackageName,
+  formatTargetDir,
+  getProjectDirFromPackageName,
+} from '../utils.js';
 
 describe('getProjectDirFromPackageName', () => {
   it('should get project dir from package name', () => {
@@ -10,8 +14,21 @@ describe('getProjectDirFromPackageName', () => {
 });
 
 describe('formatTargetDir', () => {
+  it('should format "." as current directory with empty package name', () => {
+    expect(formatTargetDir('.')).toEqual({
+      directory: '.',
+      packageName: '',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should format "./" as current directory with empty package name', () => {
+    expect(formatTargetDir('./')).toEqual({
+      directory: '.',
+      packageName: '',
+    });
+  });
+
   it('should format target dir with invalid input', () => {
-    expect(formatTargetDir('.')).matchSnapshot();
     expect(formatTargetDir('/foo/bar')).matchSnapshot();
     expect(formatTargetDir('@scope/')).matchSnapshot();
     expect(formatTargetDir('../../foo/bar')).matchSnapshot();
@@ -45,3 +62,28 @@ describe('formatTargetDir', () => {
     expect(formatTargetDir('my-package@1.0.0').error).matchSnapshot();
   });
 });
+
+describe('deriveDefaultPackageName', () => {
+  it('should derive package name from directory basename', () => {
+    expect(deriveDefaultPackageName('/home/user/my-app', undefined, 'fallback')).toBe('my-app');
+  });
+
+  it('should derive scoped package name when scope is provided', () => {
+    expect(deriveDefaultPackageName('/home/user/my-app', '@my-scope', 'fallback')).toBe(
+      '@my-scope/my-app',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should fallback to random name when directory name is invalid', () => {
+    const result = deriveDefaultPackageName('/home/user/.hidden', undefined, 'vite-plus-app');
+    // directory name starts with '.', so a random name is generated instead
+    expect(result).not.toBe('.hidden');
+    expect(result.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+
+  it('should fallback when directory is filesystem root', () => {
+    const result = deriveDefaultPackageName('/', undefined, 'vite-plus-app');
+    // basename of '/' is empty, so a random name is generated
+    expect(result.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+  });
+});

packages/cli/src/create/bin.ts

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ import {
 } from './templates/index.js';
 import { InitialMonorepoAppDir } from './templates/monorepo.js';
 import { BuiltinTemplate, TemplateType } from './templates/types.js';
-import { formatTargetDir } from './utils.js';
+import { deriveDefaultPackageName, formatTargetDir } from './utils.js';
 
 const helpMessage = renderCliDoc({
   usage: 'vp create [TEMPLATE] [OPTIONS] [-- TEMPLATE_OPTIONS]',
@@ -570,8 +570,42 @@ Use \`vp create --list\` to list all available templates, or run \`vp create --h
     }
   }
 
-  if (isBuiltinTemplate && !targetDir) {
-    if (selectedTemplateName === BuiltinTemplate.monorepo) {
+  if (isBuiltinTemplate && (!targetDir || targetDir === '.')) {
+    if (targetDir === '.') {
+      // Current directory: auto-derive package name from cwd, no prompt
+      const fallbackName =
+        selectedTemplateName === BuiltinTemplate.monorepo
+          ? 'vite-plus-monorepo'
+          : `vite-plus-${selectedTemplateName.split(':')[1]}`;
+      packageName = deriveDefaultPackageName(
+        cwd,
+        workspaceInfoOptional.monorepoScope,
+        fallbackName,
+      );
+      if (isMonorepo) {
+        if (!cwdRelativeToRoot) {
+          // At monorepo root: scaffolding here would overwrite the entire workspace
+          cancelAndExit(
+            'Cannot scaffold into the monorepo root directory. Use --directory to specify a target directory',
+            1,
+          );
+        }
+        // Check if cwd is inside an existing workspace package
+        const enclosingPackage = workspaceInfoOptional.packages.find(
+          (pkg) => cwdRelativeToRoot === pkg.path || cwdRelativeToRoot.startsWith(`${pkg.path}/`),
+        );
+        if (enclosingPackage) {
+          cancelAndExit(
+            `Cannot scaffold inside existing package "${enclosingPackage.name}" (${enclosingPackage.path}). Use --directory to specify a different location`,
+            1,
+          );
+        }
+        // Resolve '.' to the path relative to rootDir
+        // so that scaffolding happens in cwd, not at the workspace root
+        targetDir = cwdRelativeToRoot;
+      }
+      prompts.log.info(`Using package name: ${accent(packageName)}`);
+    } else if (selectedTemplateName === BuiltinTemplate.monorepo) {
       const selected = await promptPackageNameAndTargetDir(
         getRandomProjectName({ fallbackName: 'vite-plus-monorepo' }),
         options.interactive,
@@ -788,7 +822,7 @@ Use \`vp create --list\` to list all available templates, or run \`vp create --h
         : selected.targetDir;
     }
     pauseCreateProgress();
-    await checkProjectDirExists(targetDir, options.interactive);
+    await checkProjectDirExists(path.join(workspaceInfo.rootDir, targetDir), options.interactive);
     resumeCreateProgress();
     updateCreateProgress('Generating project');
     result = await executeBuiltinTemplate(

packages/cli/src/create/prompts.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ export async function promptPackageNameAndTargetDir(
         if (value == null || value.length === 0) {
           return;
         }
-
         const result = value ? validateNpmPackageName(value) : null;
         if (result?.validForNewPackages) {
           return;

packages/cli/src/create/utils.ts

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import path from 'node:path';
 import validateNpmPackageName from 'validate-npm-package-name';
 
 import { editJsonFile } from '../utils/json.js';
+import { getRandomProjectName } from './random-name.js';
 
 // Helper functions for file operations
 export function copy(src: string, dest: string) {
@@ -30,12 +31,12 @@ export function copyDir(srcDir: string, destDir: string) {
  * Examples:
  * ```
  * # invalid target directories
- * ./ -> { directory: '', packageName: '', error: 'Invalid target directory' }
  * /foo/bar -> { directory: '', packageName: '', error: 'Absolute path is not allowed' }
  * @scope/ -> { directory: '', packageName: '', error: 'Invalid target directory' }
  * ../../foo/bar -> { directory: '', packageName: '', error: 'Invalid target directory' }
  *
  * # valid target directories
+ * . -> { directory: '.', packageName: '' }
  * ./my-package -> { directory: './my-package', packageName: 'my-package' }
  * ./foo/bar-package -> { directory: './foo/bar-package', packageName: 'bar-package' }
  * ./foo/bar-package/ -> { directory: './foo/bar-package', packageName: 'bar-package' }
@@ -52,6 +53,12 @@ export function formatTargetDir(input: string): {
   error?: string;
 } {
   let targetDir = path.normalize(input.trim());
+
+  // "." or "./" means current directory — valid directory, but no package name derivable
+  if (targetDir === '.' || targetDir === `.${path.sep}`) {
+    return { directory: '.', packageName: '' };
+  }
+
   const parsed = path.parse(targetDir);
   if (parsed.root || path.isAbsolute(targetDir)) {
     return {
@@ -120,3 +127,15 @@ export function formatDisplayTargetDir(targetDir: string) {
   }
   return `./${normalized}`;
 }
+
+export function deriveDefaultPackageName(
+  cwd: string,
+  scope: string | undefined,
+  fallbackName: string,
+): string {
+  const dirName = path.basename(cwd);
+  const candidate = scope ? `${scope}/${dirName}` : dirName;
+  return validateNpmPackageName(candidate).validForNewPackages
+    ? candidate
+    : getRandomProjectName({ scope, fallbackName });
+}