FuelLabs/sway · error

the dependency `{}` could not be found in `{}`

Error message

the dependency `{}` could not be found in `{}`

What it means

remove_deps_manifest_table removes entries from a section of Forc.toml ([dependencies] or [contract-dependencies]). The quoted branch fires when the whole section table is absent from the manifest (doc[section_name].as_table_mut() returns None); the same message is also bailed just below for a present section that lacks one of the named keys. Either way, the manifest does not contain what forc remove was asked to remove.

Source

Thrown at forc-pkg/src/manifest/dep_modifier.rs:358

                    }
                    Dependency::Detailed(details) => {
                        let mut inline = generate_table(details);
                        inline.insert("salt", Value::from(format!("0x{salt}")));
                        Item::Value(toml_edit::Value::InlineTable(inline))
                    }
                };
                table.insert(&dep_name, item);
            }
        };

        Ok(())
    }

    pub fn remove_deps_manifest_table(self, doc: &mut DocumentMut, deps: &[&str]) -> Result<()> {
        let section_name = self.to_string();

        let section_table = doc[section_name.as_str()].as_table_mut().ok_or_else(|| {
            anyhow!(
                "the dependency `{}` could not be found in `{}`",
                deps.join(", "),
                section_name,
            )
        })?;

        match self {
            Section::Deps => {
                for dep in deps {
                    if !section_table.contains_key(dep) {
                        bail!(
                            "the dependency `{}` could not be found in `{}`",
                            dep,
                            section_name
                        );
                    }
                    section_table.remove(dep);
                }

View on GitHub (pinned to 47e5e902fa)

Solutions

1. Open Forc.toml and confirm the exact key exists under the expected section before removing.
2. Use the flag matching the section: forc remove --contract-dependency <name> for contract deps, plain forc remove <name> for libraries.
3. If the section genuinely does not exist, there is nothing to remove - delete the entry manually or skip.
4. Check spelling and hyphenation of the dependency key as written in the manifest.

Example fix

# before: forc remove foo  but Forc.toml has only
[contract-dependencies]
foo = { ... }

# after: target the right section
$ forc remove --contract-dependency foo

// Rust/shell, verify section and key exist before invoking forc remove:
// shell:
//   grep -q '^\[dependencies\]$' Forc.toml && grep -q '^foo *= ' Forc.toml
// Rust: parse the manifest with toml_edit and assert doc["dependencies"][name].is_some().

// anyhow Result - inspect and guide:
match remove_deps(...) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("could not be found") =>
        eprintln!("check the section ([dependencies] vs [contract-dependencies]) and key spelling"),
    other => other.unwrap(),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running forc remove <pkg> when Forc.toml has no [dependencies] table at all, or the dependency key exists only under a different section (e.g. contract-dependencies) or with a different spelling; the contract-deps variant hits the same guard for [contract-dependencies].

Common situations: Typo'd dependency names; wrong section (plain dep vs contract dep) because the matching flag was not passed; manifests where the section was already cleaned; running remove in the wrong project directory.

Related errors

• failed to read manifest at {:?}: {}
• dependency of {:?} named {:?} is invalid: {}
• failed to find package `{}` in {}
• failed to write toml file: {}
• missing dependency name

AI-assisted analysis of FuelLabs/sway@47e5e902fa (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/56a1c358f1886ab9. Report an issue: GitHub.