What causes "No progam to associate with trace was given" in NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra?

When invoking the loader, add an Option named DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME whose value is the project path of the target program.

NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · LoadException

No progam to associate with trace was given

Error message

No progam to associate with trace was given

What it means

LoadException thrown by TenetLoader when the DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME option is missing or blank. A Tenet trace is meaningless without a Program to associate it with, so the loader requires the user to name an existing program domain file. Note the message has a typo ('progam') in the source.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger-importers/src/main/java/ghidra/app/util/opinion/TenetLoader.java:269

	public int getTierPriority() {
		return 0;
	}

	@Override
	public LoadResults<? extends DomainObject> load(final ImporterSettings settings)
			throws IOException, CancelledException, VersionException, LoadException {
		Trace trace;
		String programPath = null;

		for (final Option option : settings.options()) {
			final String name = option.getName();
			if (name.equals(DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME)) {
				programPath = (String) option.getValue();
			}
		}

		if ((programPath == null) || programPath.isBlank()) {
			throw new LoadException("No progam to associate with trace was given");
		}

		Msg.info(this, "Loading trace for %s".formatted(programPath));

		final DomainFile df = settings.project().getProjectData().getFile(programPath);
		if (!df.getContentType().equals(ProgramContentHandler.PROGRAM_CONTENT_TYPE)) {
			throw new LoadException("Selected file is not a program");
		}
		Program program = null;

		try {
			program = (Program) df.getDomainObject(this, false, false, settings.monitor());

			final long start = System.currentTimeMillis();

			trace = loadTrace(settings.provider(), settings.importName(), program,
				settings.consumer(), settings.log(), settings.monitor());

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

When invoking the loader, add an Option named DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME whose value is the project path of the target program.
In the GUI import flow, pick the program file in the loader's options panel before importing.
Confirm the option name constant used by the caller matches TenetLoader.DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME exactly.

Example fix

// before
LoadResults<Trace> res = loader.load(...); // options had no domain file

// after
List<Option> opts = new ArrayList<>(settings.options());
opts.add(new Option(TenetLoader.DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME, "/myproj/exe"));
settings = settings.withOptions(opts);
LoadResults<Trace> res = loader.load(...);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

String programPath = options.stream()
    .filter(o -> TenetLoader.DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME.equals(o.getName()))
    .map(Option::getValue).map(String::valueOf).findFirst().orElse(null);
if (programPath == null || programPath.isBlank()) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Set " + TenetLoader.DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME);
}

Try / catch

try {
    loader.load(settings);
} catch (LoadException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("progam to associate")) {
        // prompt user to select the associated program
    }
}

Prevention

Always set DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME to a non-blank program path before importing a Tenet trace.
Reuse the loader's option name constant rather than a hardcoded string.
Validate options in scripts before invoking the loader.

When it happens

Trigger: load() is called with settings whose options do not include DOMAIN_FILE_OPTION_NAME, or include it with a null/blank value. The loader iterates settings.options() looking for that name and never finds a usable programPath.

Common situations: Importing a Tenet trace via a script/batch flow that forgot to set the domain-file option; the import dialog closed without selecting an associated program; option renamed/misspelled so the name check does not match.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8b194a35ad5fa0c5. Report an issue: GitHub.