Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · warning · Error

Could not fetch local files.

Error message

Could not fetch local files.

What it means

Thrown by System.localFiles on a non-2xx GET to /api/system/local-files, optionally with ?folder=&offset=&limit=. Without a folderName it returns the folder shells for the picker; with one it returns that folder's documents. The .catch() returns null, so a server error collapses both branches to null.

Source

Thrown at frontend/src/models/system.js:89

   * Without a folderName, returns the folder shells for the picker.
   * With one, returns that folder's documents.
   * @param {string|null} folderName
   * @param {number} offset
   * @param {number|"all"} limit - "all" opts out of paging entirely; the
   * server otherwise clamps this to its own maximum page size.
   */
  localFiles: async function (folderName = null, offset = 0, limit = 100) {
    const params = new URLSearchParams();
    if (folderName) {
      params.set("folder", folderName);
      params.set("offset", String(offset));
      params.set("limit", String(limit));
    }
    const qs = params.toString();
    const url = `${API_BASE}/system/local-files${qs ? `?${qs}` : ""}`;
    return await fetch(url, { headers: baseHeaders() })
      .then((res) => {
        if (!res.ok) throw new Error("Could not fetch local files.");
        return res.json();
      })
      .then((res) => (folderName ? res : res.localFiles))
      .catch(() => null);
  },
  searchLocalFiles: async function (query = "") {
    return await fetch(
      `${API_BASE}/system/local-files/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(query)}`,
      { headers: baseHeaders() }
    )
      .then((res) => {
        if (!res.ok) throw new Error("Search failed.");
        return res.json();
      })
      .then((res) => res.results)
      .catch(() => []);
  },
  getDocumentsByDocPaths: async function (docpaths = []) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

1. Verify the server's documents storage directory exists and is readable by the node process.
2. Confirm the folderName (if given) matches a folder from the no-arg listing call.
3. Check the auth token in localStorage is present (baseHeaders() is sent).
4. Read the response body in DevTools Network for the server-side error message.

function validLocalFilesArgs(folderName, offset, limit) {
  if (folderName != null && typeof folderName !== "string") return false;
  if (!Number.isInteger(offset) || offset < 0) return false;
  if (!(limit === "all" || (Number.isInteger(limit) && limit > 0))) return false;
  return true;
}

/** @param {any} r @returns {r is Array|Object} */
function isLocalFilesResult(r) { return r != null && (Array.isArray(r) || typeof r === "object"); }

const res = await System.localFiles(folder, offset, limit);
if (!isLocalFilesResult(res)) { setError("Documents unavailable"); return; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling localFiles() or localFiles("custom-documents", 0, 100) when the document storage path is unreadable by the server process (500), when the folder does not exist, or when the auth token is invalid (401/403).

Common situations: The storage/documents directory was chmod-restricted or mounted read-only; a Docker volume was not attached; a folder name with special chars is passed that the server rejects.

Related errors

• Failed to download file
• Search failed.
• Failed to fetch documents by paths.
• Failed to sync Confluence page content. ${reason}
• Failed to sync GitHub file content. ${reason}

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9136afeacc8ed019. Report an issue: GitHub.