FuelLabs/sway · error · anyhow::Error

failed to find a template in {}

Error message

failed to find a template in {}

What it means

When `forc template <url> <project-name>` is invoked without --template-name, the whole fetched repo root must itself be a forc package: PackageManifest::from_file(repo_path/Forc.toml) is attempted and .is_err() triggers this bail. It means neither a template name was given nor a root Forc.toml exists.

Source

Thrown at forc/src/ops/forc_template.rs:59

    );
    if !repo_path.exists() {
        println_action_green("Fetching", git_source.to_string().as_str());
        source::git::fetch(fetch_id, &local_repo_name, &git_source)?;
    }

    let from_path = match command.template_name {
        Some(ref template_name) => manifest::find_dir_within(&repo_path, template_name)
            .ok_or_else(|| {
                anyhow!(
                    "failed to find a template `{}` in {}",
                    template_name,
                    command.url
                )
            })?,
        None => {
            let manifest_path = repo_path.join(constants::MANIFEST_FILE_NAME);
            if PackageManifest::from_file(manifest_path).is_err() {
                anyhow::bail!("failed to find a template in {}", command.url);
            }
            repo_path
        }
    };

    // Create the target dir
    let target_dir = current_dir.join(&command.project_name);

    println_action_green(
        "Creating",
        &format!("{} from template", &command.project_name),
    );
    // Copy contents from template to target dir
    copy_template_to_target(&from_path, &target_dir)?;

    // Edit forc.toml
    edit_forc_toml(&target_dir, &command.project_name, &whoami::realname())?;
    if target_dir.join("test").exists() {

View on GitHub (pinned to 47e5e902fa)

Solutions

1. Add --template-name pointing at the subdirectory that contains the Forc.toml
2. Verify with the repo's docs which subdirectory is the intended template
3. If you own the repo, add a root Forc.toml for the default template

Example fix

# before
forc template https://github.com/example/templates myapp

# after
forc template https://github.com/example/templates myapp --template-name counter

// A repo works without --template-name only if Forc.toml sits at its root.
if !std::path::Path::new(&format!("{repo_root}/Forc.toml")).is_file() {
    anyhow::bail!("repo has no root Forc.toml; pass --template-name pointing at the template subdir");
}

fn repo_is_root_package(root: &Path) -> bool {
    root.join("Forc.toml").is_file()
}

match run_forc_template(url, project, None) {
    Ok(()) => Ok(()),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("failed to find a template in") => {
        run_forc_template(url, project, Some("counter")) // retry with an explicit template dir
    }
    Err(e) => Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Cloning a multi-template repository (templates in subdirectories, no manifest at the repo root) without passing --template-name.

Common situations: Users pointing at template collections where the root only has a README, or expecting forc to auto-detect the sole template directory, which it does not.

Related errors

• failed to write toml file: {}
• the dependency `{}` could not be found in `{}`
• hex salt declaration needs to start with 0x
• {e}
• failed to read manifest at {:?}: {}

AI-assisted analysis of FuelLabs/sway@47e5e902fa (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/df737447e91e189b. Report an issue: GitHub.