SeleniumHQ/selenium · error · ValueError

The driver path is not a valid file: {output['driver_path']}

Error message

The driver path is not a valid file: {output['driver_path']}

What it means

After Selenium Manager resolves the driver, `DriverFinder` verifies the returned `driver_path` is a real file. If Selenium Manager reported a path that is not a file (corrupt install, interrupted download, manager bug), it raises `ValueError`, wrapped into `NoSuchDriverException`. This indicates Selenium Manager itself produced an unusable result.

Source

Thrown at py/selenium/webdriver/common/driver_finder.py:71

        if self._paths["driver_path"]:
            return self._paths

        browser = self._options.capabilities["browserName"]
        try:
            path = self._service.path
            if path:
                logger.debug(
                    "Skipping Selenium Manager; path to %s driver specified in Service class: %s", browser, path
                )
                if not Path(path).is_file():
                    raise ValueError(f"The path is not a valid file: {path}")
                self._paths["driver_path"] = path
            else:
                output = SeleniumManager().binary_paths(self._to_args())
                if Path(output["driver_path"]).is_file():
                    self._paths["driver_path"] = output["driver_path"]
                else:
                    raise ValueError(f"The driver path is not a valid file: {output['driver_path']}")
                if Path(output["browser_path"]).is_file():
                    self._paths["browser_path"] = output["browser_path"]
                else:
                    raise ValueError(f"The browser path is not a valid file: {output['browser_path']}")
        except Exception as err:
            msg = f"Unable to obtain driver for {browser}"
            raise NoSuchDriverException(msg) from err
        return self._paths

    def _to_args(self) -> list:
        args = ["--browser", self._options.capabilities["browserName"]]

        if self._options.browser_version:
            args.append("--browser-version")
            args.append(str(self._options.browser_version))

        binary_location = getattr(self._options, "binary_location", None)
        if binary_location:

View on GitHub (pinned to aa36b38e69)

Solutions

1. Clear the Selenium Manager cache: `rm -rf ~/.cache/selenium` and retry.
2. Pin a known-good browser version in options to get a stable driver match.
3. Provide the driver explicitly via `Service(executable_path=...)` with a verified file.
4. Check the chained cause on the NoSuchDriverException for Selenium Manager stderr output.

Example fix

// before
# Selenium Manager returns a non-file driver_path -> NoSuchDriverException
// after
rm -rf ~/.cache/selenium  # clear cache, then re-run
driver = webdriver.Chrome()  # manager re-downloads cleanly

from selenium.webdriver.common.selenium_manager import SeleniumManager
out = SeleniumManager().binary_paths(["--browser", "chrome"])
from pathlib import Path
assert Path(out["driver_path"]).is_file(), "manager returned an invalid driver_path"

from pathlib import Path
def manager_driver_path_valid(out: dict) -> bool:
    return Path(out.get("driver_path", "")).is_file()

from selenium.common.exceptions import NoSuchDriverException
import shutil
try:
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()
except NoSuchDriverException as e:
    shutil.rmtree("~/.cache/selenium", ignore_errors=True)  # clear cache
    driver = webdriver.Chrome()  # retry once

When it happens

Trigger: Selenium Manager output JSON references a driver_path that doesn't exist on disk. Corrupt Selenium Manager cache. A pinned browser-version that has no matching driver. Network failure during driver download leaving a partial/absent binary.

Common situations: First run in a fresh container where the manager download was interrupted. Corrupted cache under `~/.cache/selenium`. Corporate proxy truncating the download. Manager version mismatch.

Related errors

• The browser path is not a valid file: {output['browser_path'
• Unable to obtain driver for {browser}
• The path is not a valid file: {path}
• Cache behavior must be either "${CacheBehavior.DEFAULT}" or
• Contexts must be an array of non-empty strings

AI-assisted analysis of SeleniumHQ/selenium@aa36b38e69 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/db2fcce866711cba. Report an issue: GitHub.