diff --git a/packages/schema/src/cli/cli-util.ts b/packages/schema/src/cli/cli-util.ts
index 85c38e82a..c8ede65a2 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/cli/cli-util.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/cli/cli-util.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { PLUGIN_MODULE_NAME, STD_LIB_MODULE_NAME } from '../language-server/cons
 import { ZModelFormatter } from '../language-server/zmodel-formatter';
 import { createZModelServices, ZModelServices } from '../language-server/zmodel-module';
 import { mergeBaseModel, resolveImport, resolveTransitiveImports } from '../utils/ast-utils';
-import { findPackageJson } from '../utils/pkg-utils';
+import { findUp } from '../utils/pkg-utils';
 import { getVersion } from '../utils/version-utils';
 import { CliError } from './cli-error';
 
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ export async function formatDocument(fileName: string) {
 
 export function getDefaultSchemaLocation() {
     // handle override from package.json
-    const pkgJsonPath = findPackageJson();
+    const pkgJsonPath = findUp(['package.json']);
     if (pkgJsonPath) {
         const pkgJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgJsonPath, 'utf-8'));
         if (typeof pkgJson?.zenstack?.schema === 'string') {
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/plugins/prisma/schema-generator.ts b/packages/schema/src/plugins/prisma/schema-generator.ts
index 881983caa..0eeea55c5 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/plugins/prisma/schema-generator.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/plugins/prisma/schema-generator.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ import { name } from '.';
 import { getStringLiteral } from '../../language-server/validator/utils';
 import telemetry from '../../telemetry';
 import { execPackage } from '../../utils/exec-utils';
-import { findPackageJson } from '../../utils/pkg-utils';
+import { findUp } from '../../utils/pkg-utils';
 import {
     ModelFieldType,
     AttributeArg as PrismaAttributeArg,
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ export default class PrismaSchemaGenerator {
 
 export function getDefaultPrismaOutputFile(schemaPath: string) {
     // handle override from package.json
-    const pkgJsonPath = findPackageJson(path.dirname(schemaPath));
+    const pkgJsonPath = findUp(['package.json'], path.dirname(schemaPath));
     if (pkgJsonPath) {
         const pkgJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgJsonPath, 'utf-8'));
         if (typeof pkgJson?.zenstack?.prisma === 'string') {
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/utils/pkg-utils.ts b/packages/schema/src/utils/pkg-utils.ts
index ca4ca127d..ce41dac34 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/utils/pkg-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/utils/pkg-utils.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,40 @@
-import fs from 'fs';
-import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
 import { execSync } from './exec-utils';
 
 export type PackageManagers = 'npm' | 'yarn' | 'pnpm';
 
-function findUp(names: string[], cwd: string): string | undefined {
-    let dir = cwd;
-    // eslint-disable-next-line no-constant-condition
-    while (true) {
-        const target = names.find((name) => fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, name)));
-        if (target) return target;
-
-        const up = path.resolve(dir, '..');
-        if (up === dir) return undefined; // it'll fail anyway
-        dir = up;
-    }
+/**
+ * A type named FindUp that takes a type parameter e which extends boolean. 
+ * If e extends true, it returns a union type of string[] or undefined. 
+ * If e does not extend true, it returns a union type of string or undefined.
+ *
+ * @export
+ * @template e A type parameter that extends boolean
+ */
+export type FindUp<e extends boolean> = e extends true ? string[] | undefined : string | undefined
+/**
+ * Find and return file paths by searching parent directories based on the given names list and current working directory (cwd) path. 
+ * Optionally return a single path or multiple paths. 
+ * If multiple allowed, return all paths found. 
+ * If no paths are found, return undefined.
+ *
+ * @export
+ * @template [e=false]
+ * @param names An array of strings representing names to search for within the directory
+ * @param cwd A string representing the current working directory
+ * @param [multiple=false as e] A boolean flag indicating whether to search for multiple levels. Useful for finding node_modules directories...
+ * @param [result=[]] An array of strings representing the accumulated results used in multiple results
+ * @returns Path(s) to a specific file or folder within the directory or parent directories
+ */
+export function findUp<e extends boolean = false>(names: string[], cwd: string = process.cwd(), multiple: e = false as e, result: string[] = []): FindUp<e> {
+    if (!names.some((name) => !!name)) return undefined;
+    const target = names.find((name) => fs.existsSync(path.join(cwd, name)));
+    if (multiple == false && target) return path.join(cwd, target) as FindUp<e>;
+    if (target) result.push(path.join(cwd, target));
+    const up = path.resolve(cwd, '..');
+    if (up === cwd) return (multiple && result.length > 0 ? result : undefined) as FindUp<e>; // it'll fail anyway
+    return findUp(names, up, multiple, result);
 }
 
 function getPackageManager(projectPath = '.'): PackageManagers {
@@ -85,6 +105,11 @@ export function ensurePackage(
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * A function that searches for the nearest package.json file starting from the provided search path or the current working directory if no search path is provided. 
+ * It iterates through the directory structure going one level up at a time until it finds a package.json file. If no package.json file is found, it returns undefined.
+ * @deprecated Use findUp instead @see findUp
+ */
 export function findPackageJson(searchPath?: string) {
     let currDir = searchPath ?? process.cwd();
     while (currDir) {
@@ -102,7 +127,7 @@ export function findPackageJson(searchPath?: string) {
 }
 
 export function getPackageJson(searchPath?: string) {
-    const pkgJsonPath = findPackageJson(searchPath);
+    const pkgJsonPath = findUp(['package.json'], searchPath ?? process.cwd());
     if (pkgJsonPath) {
         return JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(pkgJsonPath, 'utf-8'));
     } else {