CherryHQ/cherry-studio · warning · Error

File not found: ${filePath}

Error message

File not found: ${filePath}

What it means

fs.stat rejected with ENOENT and the caller did not request file creation — old_string was non-empty, so the create-file branch (edit.ts:53-71) is skipped and the missing file is reported. The edit tool only auto-creates a file when old_string is exactly ''; any other old_string against a nonexistent file yields this error.

Source

Thrown at src/main/ai/mcp/servers/filesystem/tools/edit.ts:73

        const parentDir = path.dirname(validPath)
        await fs.mkdir(parentDir, { recursive: true })

        // Write the new content
        await fs.writeFile(validPath, newString, 'utf-8')

        logger.info('File created', { path: validPath })

        const relativePath = path.relative(baseDir, validPath)
        return {
          content: [
            {
              type: 'text',
              text: `Created new file: ${relativePath}\nLines: ${newString.split('\n').length}`
            }
          ]
        }
      }
      throw new Error(`File not found: ${filePath}`)
    }
    throw error
  }

  // Read current content
  const content = await fs.readFile(validPath, 'utf-8')

  // Handle special case: old_string is empty (create file with content)
  if (oldString === '') {
    await fs.writeFile(validPath, newString, 'utf-8')

    logger.info('File overwritten', { path: validPath })

    const relativePath = path.relative(baseDir, validPath)
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: 'text',

View on GitHub (pinned to 726446b54c)

Solutions

1. If creating a new file, set old_string to '' so the edit tool takes the create branch.
2. Otherwise, verify the file_path exists with the ls or read tool first.
3. Check for trailing whitespace or path-separator differences (e.g. backslash on Windows) that change resolution.

Example fix

// before
throw new Error(`File not found: ${filePath}`)

// after — hint at the create-file convention in the message
throw new Error(`File not found: ${filePath}. To create it, retry with old_string=""`)

// For creation intent, use the empty-old_string convention; otherwise check existence.
import { stat } from 'fs/promises'
async function fileExists(p: string): Promise<boolean> {
  try { await stat(p); return true } catch { return false }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Editing a file path that does not exist without using the create-on-empty-old_string convention; a typo in file_path; a file deleted between the read and edit calls; a relative path that validatePath resolved to an unexpected location.

Common situations: A model that read a file in a previous turn but the file was since removed; misspelled filenames; attempting to edit a file the model assumed existed because a sibling does.

Related errors

• Path not found: ${targetPath}
• Invalid arguments for edit: ${parsed.error}
• Path is not a file: ${filePath}
• Directory not found: ${validPath}
• Session workspace is unavailable: ${workspaceRoot}

AI-assisted analysis of CherryHQ/cherry-studio@726446b54c (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e60628a1134de8e2. Report an issue: GitHub.