What causes "curl not found in PATH: %w" in abiosoft/colima?

Install curl: apt-get install -y curl / apk add curl / brew install curl

curl not found in PATH: %w

Error message

curl not found in PATH: %w

What it means

curlDownloader.Download resolves the curl executable with exec.LookPath before spawning it; if no curl binary is found on PATH the download aborts with the LookPath error wrapped. The curl downloader is only selected when configuration asks for it (COLIMA_DOWNLOADER=curl); the native downloader needs no external binary.

Source

Thrown at util/downloader/curl.go:42

func ValidateDownloader(v string) (string, error) {
	switch strings.ToLower(v) {
	case DownloaderNative:
		return DownloaderNative, nil
	case DownloaderCurl:
		return DownloaderCurl, nil
	default:
		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid downloader %q: must be one of %s, %s", v, DownloaderNative, DownloaderCurl)
	}
}

// curlDownloader handles downloads using the curl command
type curlDownloader struct{}

// Download downloads a file using curl
func (c *curlDownloader) Download(r Request, destPath string) error {
	// check if curl is available
	if _, err := exec.LookPath("curl"); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("curl not found in PATH: %w", err)
	}

	args := []string{
		"-fSL",    // fail on HTTP errors, show errors, follow redirects
		"-C", "-", // resume if possible (auto-detect offset)
		"--progress-bar", // show progress bar
		"-o", destPath,   // output file
		r.URL,
	}

	cmd := exec.Command("curl", args...)
	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr

	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("curl download failed for '%s': %w", path.Base(r.URL), err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

Install curl: apt-get install -y curl / apk add curl / brew install curl
Switch to the native downloader — unset COLIMA_DOWNLOADER or set it to 'native'; it needs no external binary
If curl is installed but not found, fix PATH so command -v curl resolves it

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// pick the downloader based on actual tool availability
choice := "curl"
if _, err := exec.LookPath("curl"); err != nil {
	choice = "native" // no external binary required
}

Type guard

func curlAvailable() bool {
	_, err := exec.LookPath("curl")
	return err == nil
}

Prevention

Default to the native downloader in containers
Verify tool presence before selecting an implementation that shells out
Bake curl into CI images if the curl downloader is required for proxy reasons

When it happens

Trigger: COLIMA_DOWNLOADER=curl on systems without curl installed: minimal or distroless containers, slim CI images, or a PATH that omits the directory containing curl.

Common situations: Running colima or embedding its downloader inside scratch/alpine images that ship no curl; CI images trimmed of extra CLI tools.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0567f6994a5264a8. Report an issue: GitHub.