Why does typedoc foo.ts report Error: Unable to find any entry points

[Gallaecio]

$ typedoc --version

TypeDoc 0.22.15
Using TypeScript 4.6.4 from /usr/lib/node_modules/typedoc/node_modules/typescript/lib

$ typedoc --help
Usage:
  typedoc path/to/entry.ts
…
$ echo "export class Foo {}" > foo.ts
$ typedoc foo.ts 
Warning: Unable to locate entry point: <working directory>/foo.ts
Error: Unable to find any entry points. Make sure TypeDoc can find your tsconfig

Why is this minimal example not working? Is foo.ts not a valid “entry point”?

[Gerrit0]

TypeDoc requires a tsconfig file that includes your entry point - tsc doesn't need one, but I haven't spent the time figuring out how to match its behavior for this case.

[Gallaecio]

Should it work if I specify the entry point with a command-line switch?

$ typedoc --entryPoints foo.ts foo.ts

Because, while it does not fail, it instead hangs indefinitely.

This alternative syntax fails as the original one:

$ typedoc --entryPoints foo.ts
Warning: Unable to locate entry point: <working directory>/foo.ts
Error: Unable to find any entry points. Make sure TypeDoc can find your tsconfig

But yes, it does work if I create tsconfig.json:

$ echo '{"entryPoints": ["foo.ts"]}' > tsconfig.json
$ typedoc foo.ts
Warning: The --name option was not specified, and no package.json was found. Defaulting project name to "Documentation".
Info: Documentation generated at ./docs

Thank you!

I consider my question solved, though I think the documentation may need an update if tsconfig.json is a required file.