Aider-AI/aider · error · DiffError

Move to action missing path.

Error message

Move to action missing path.

What it means

Raised by PatchCoder._parse_patch_text when an optional '*** Move to:' line following an '*** Update File:' header is present but its target path is empty after stripping. Move-to is only valid with a concrete destination path.

Source

Thrown at aider/coders/patch_coder.py:322

            if norm_line == "*** End Patch":
                index += 1
                break  # Successfully reached end

            # ---------- UPDATE ---------- #
            if norm_line.startswith("*** Update File: "):
                path = norm_line[len("*** Update File: ") :].strip()
                index += 1
                if not path:
                    raise DiffError("Update File action missing path.")

                # Optional move target
                move_to = None
                if index < len(lines) and _norm(lines[index]).startswith("*** Move to: "):
                    move_to = _norm(lines[index])[len("*** Move to: ") :].strip()
                    index += 1
                    if not move_to:
                        raise DiffError("Move to action missing path.")

                if path not in current_files:
                    raise DiffError(f"Update File Error - missing file content for: {path}")

                file_content = current_files[path]

                existing_action = patch.actions.get(path)
                if existing_action is not None:
                    # Merge additional UPDATE block into the existing one
                    if existing_action.type != ActionType.UPDATE:
                        raise DiffError(f"Conflicting actions for file: {path}")

                    new_action, index, fuzz = self._parse_update_file_sections(
                        lines, index, file_content
                    )
                    existing_action.chunks.extend(new_action.chunks)

                    if move_to:

View on GitHub (pinned to 5dc9490bb3)

Solutions

1. Supply the destination: '*** Move to: new/path/file.py'.
2. Remove the '*** Move to:' line entirely if no rename is intended.
3. Re-check truncation if the line looks cut off.
4. Feed the error back to the LLM for a corrected patch.

Example fix

# before
*** Update File: old.py
*** Move to:
@@
 context
*** End Patch

# after
*** Update File: old.py
*** Move to: new.py
@@
 context
*** End Patch

import re

def empty_move_targets(patch_text: str) -> list[str]:
    return [l for l in patch_text.splitlines() if re.fullmatch(r"\*\*\* Move to:\s*", l)]
# non-empty → fill the destination or delete the line before get_edits()

try:
    coder.get_edits(patch_text)
except ValueError as e:
    if "Move to action missing path" in str(e):
        patch_text = fix_or_drop_empty_moves(patch_text)
        coder.get_edits(patch_text)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: A patch containing '*** Move to:' with no value (or whitespace only) directly after an update header — the parser consumed the line, found the path empty, and raised before parsing hunks.

Common situations: Models emitting the move marker as a placeholder without filling the destination; truncated output; misunderstanding that '*** Move to:' renames the file rather than annotating it.

Related errors

• Conflicting move targets for file: {path}
• Invalid patch line found in update section: {line}
• Invalid line prefix in update section: {line}
• Empty patch section found.
• Error parsing patch content: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of Aider-AI/aider@5dc9490bb3 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/126de4b7a97498d7. Report an issue: GitHub.