Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT · error · FolderValidationError

Cannot move folder into its own descendant

Error message

Cannot move folder into its own descendant

What it means

Error "Cannot move folder into its own descendant" thrown in Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT.

Source

Thrown at autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/library/db.py:1600

        FolderValidationError: If the move is invalid.
        NotFoundError: If the folder doesn't exist.
        DatabaseError: If there's a database error.
    """
    logger.debug(f"Moving folder #{folder_id} to parent #{target_parent_id}")

    # Authorization: update uses where={"id": ...} without userId,
    # so we must verify ownership first.
    await get_folder(folder_id, user_id)

    # Authorization: FK only checks existence, not ownership.
    # Verify the target parent belongs to this user to prevent cross-user nesting.
    if target_parent_id:
        await get_folder(target_parent_id, user_id)

    # Validate no circular reference
    if target_parent_id:
        if await _is_descendant_of(target_parent_id, folder_id, user_id):
            raise FolderValidationError("Cannot move folder into its own descendant")

    try:
        folder = await prisma.models.LibraryFolder.prisma().update(
            where={"id": folder_id},
            data={
                "parentId": target_parent_id,
            },
            include=LIBRARY_FOLDER_INCLUDE,
        )
    except prisma.errors.UniqueViolationError:
        raise FolderAlreadyExistsError(
            "A folder with this name already exists in this location"
        )

    if not folder:
        raise NotFoundError(f"Folder #{folder_id} not found")

    return library_model.LibraryFolder.from_db(

View on GitHub (pinned to 9c8bb5550f)

Solutions

1. Move the folder to a location that is not inside itself or one of its subfolders.
2. Restructure the folder hierarchy before moving.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at autogpt_platform/backend/backend/api/features/library/db.py:1600 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Significant-Gravitas/AutoGPT@9c8bb5550f (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fba1e201a6108a85. Report an issue: GitHub.