GraphiteEditor/Graphite · error

Path node does not exist

Error message

Path node does not exist

What it means

Starting the first spline click creates a two-node layer (Path feeding a Spline node); the Path half is resolved by name via resolve_network_node_type("Path").expect("Path node does not exist") against the DOCUMENT_NODE_TYPES static registry. A miss means the structural Path node definition is missing or renamed in this build of the editor. The panic happens at spline-layer creation, before any spline geometry exists.

Source

Thrown at editor/src/messages/tool/tool_messages/spline_tool.rs:404

				let append_to_selected_layer = input.keyboard.key(append_to_selected);

				// Create new path in the selected layer when shift is down
				if let (Some(layer), true) = (selected_layer, append_to_selected_layer) {
					tool_data.current_layer = Some(layer);

					let transform = document.metadata().transform_to_viewport(layer);
					let position = transform.inverse().transform_point2(input.mouse.position);
					tool_data.next_point = position;

					return SplineToolFsmState::Drawing;
				}

				responses.add(DocumentMessage::DeselectAllLayers);

				let parent = document.new_layer_bounding_artboard(input, viewport);

				let path_node_type = resolve_network_node_type("Path").expect("Path node does not exist");
				let path_node = path_node_type.default_node_template();
				let spline_node_type = resolve_proto_node_type(graphene_std::vector::spline::IDENTIFIER).expect("Spline node does not exist");
				let spline_node = spline_node_type.node_template_input_override([Some(NodeInput::node(NodeId(1), 0))]);
				let nodes = vec![(NodeId(1), path_node), (NodeId(0), spline_node)];

				let layer = graph_modification_utils::new_custom(NodeId::new(), nodes, parent, responses);
				tool_options.drawing.fill.apply_fill(layer, responses);
				tool_options.drawing.apply_stroke_to_new_layer(layer, responses);
				tool_options.drawing.apply_stroke_order_to_new_layer(layer, responses);
				tool_data.current_layer = Some(layer);
				tool_data.new_layer_viewport_start = Some(viewport_vec);

				// Position the layer at the initial mouse position via Transform
				responses.add(DeferMessage::AfterGraphRun {
					messages: vec![translation_transform_set(document, layer, viewport_vec), NodeGraphMessage::RunDocumentGraph.into()],
				});

				SplineToolFsmState::Drawing

View on GitHub (pinned to c507b35645)

Solutions

1. Confirm the registry contains a Network definition keyed exactly "Path" (dump via collect_node_types()).
2. Introduce a single shared constant for the Path node name and use it at the definition site and in all tool call sites.
3. If the definition was renamed, add the node under the old key or update every resolve_network_node_type("Path") occurrence in one change.
4. Degrade gracefully: use let-else to log and abort the spline start instead of crashing the editor.

Example fix

// before
let path_node_type = resolve_network_node_type("Path").expect("Path node does not exist");
let path_node = path_node_type.default_node_template();

// after
let Some(path_node) = resolve_network_node_type(PATH_NODE_NAME).map(|t| t.default_node_template()) else {
	log::error!("Path network node missing; spline tool cannot create a layer");
	return SplineToolFsmState::Ready;
};

let Some(path_node) = resolve_network_node_type("Path").map(|t| t.default_node_template()) else {
	// Path node missing from registry: abort spline start gracefully
	return SplineToolFsmState::Ready;
};
let nodes = vec![(NodeId(1), path_node)];

When it happens

Trigger: Spline tool click that is not appending to an existing spline layer: after DeselectAllLayers and new_layer_bounding_artboard, the tool runs resolve_network_node_type("Path").expect(...) and pairs it with the spline node in the new_custom call.

Common situations: The Path network node definition is renamed/removed in document_node_definitions.rs while spline_tool.rs (and freehand_tool.rs, pen_tool.rs) still pass the literal "Path"; divergent branches merging a registry refactor without updating all three call sites; forks renaming structural nodes for localization.

Related errors

• Path node does not exist
• Path node does not exist
• Spline node does not exist
• Star node can't be found
• Brush node does not exist

AI-assisted analysis of GraphiteEditor/Graphite@c507b35645 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2b50f8b3ebc7bbd9. Report an issue: GitHub.