AlistGo/alist · warning

existing file not found

Error message

existing file not found

What it means

A linear scan of the folder listing completed without any non-folder entry whose Name equals the requested filename. This is a lookup-miss on an exact, case-sensitive name match, used to find an existing file (typically before upload to decide update-vs-create). The folder itself was listed successfully; the file simply is not there under that exact name.

Source

Thrown at drivers/mediafire/util.go:600

func (d *Mediafire) getExistingFileInfo(ctx context.Context, fileHash, filename, folderKey string) (*model.ObjThumb, error) {

	if fileInfo, err := d.getFileByHash(ctx, fileHash); err == nil && fileInfo != nil {
		return fileInfo, nil
	}

	files, err := d.getFiles(ctx, folderKey)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	for _, file := range files {
		if file.Name == filename && !file.IsFolder {
			return d.fileToObj(file), nil
		}
	}

	return nil, fmt.Errorf("existing file not found")
}

func (d *Mediafire) getFileByHash(_ context.Context, hash string) (*model.ObjThumb, error) {
	query := map[string]string{
		"session_token":   d.SessionToken,
		"response_format": "json",
		"hash":            hash,
	}

	var resp MediafireFileSearchResponse
	_, err := d.postForm("/file/get_info.php", query, &resp)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if resp.Response.Result != "Success" {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("MediaFire file search failed: %s", resp.Response.Result)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 843d9dc814)

Solutions

1. Treat as not-found and proceed with create/new-upload logic rather than erroring — this is a normal miss in find-or-create flows
2. If the file should exist, list the folder and compare names byte-for-byte (check case and Unicode normalization)
3. Confirm the correct folderKey is being scanned
4. Check MediaFire trash — deleted files are absent from folder listings

Example fix

// before
for _, file := range files {
    if file.Name == filename && !file.IsFolder {
        return d.fileToObj(file), nil
    }
}
return nil, fmt.Errorf("existing file not found")

// after (caller treats not-found as non-fatal)
existing, err := d.findExisting(ctx, folderKey, filename)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "existing file not found") {
        existing = nil // proceed with fresh upload
    } else {
        return err
    }
}

// Normalize before comparing names
want := strings.TrimSpace(filename)
for _, f := range files {
    if !f.IsFolder && norm.NFC.String(f.Name) == norm.NFC.String(want) {
        return d.fileToObj(f), nil
    }
}

// find-or-create: not-found is a branch, not a failure
existing, err := d.findExisting(ctx, folder, name)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "existing file not found") {
    existing = nil
} else if err != nil {
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: First upload of a file with this name (expected miss); filename differs by case, trailing space, or Unicode normalization; file in a subfolder rather than the scanned folder; listing pagination missing entries; file deleted between operations.

Common situations: Upload flows calling findExisting before Put; case-sensitivity surprises when the file was created with different casing on another OS; NFD vs NFC Unicode names from macOS clients; files moved to trash and thus excluded from the listing.

Related errors

• file not found by hash
• expected *os.File, got %T
• no download links found
• failed to get action token: %w
• MediaFire upload check failed: %s

AI-assisted analysis of AlistGo/alist@843d9dc814 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/682c68cbc9004d0a. Report an issue: GitHub.