angular/angular-cli · error · FileDoesNotExistException

Path "${path}" does not exist.

Error message

Path "${path}" does not exist.

What it means

FileDoesNotExistException from HostTree.readText: read(path) returned null, meaning the file does not exist in the tree, and readText (which must return a string, not null) throws instead. This is the strict, typed counterpart to read(), which tolerates missing files by returning null.

Source

Thrown at packages/angular_devkit/schematics/src/tree/host-tree.ts:301

      }
    });
  }

  get root(): DirEntry {
    return this.getDir('/');
  }

  // Readonly.
  read(path: string): Buffer | null {
    const entry = this.get(path);

    return entry ? entry.content : null;
  }

  readText(path: string): string {
    const data = this.read(path);
    if (data === null) {
      throw new FileDoesNotExistException(path);
    }

    const decoder = new TextDecoder('utf-8', { fatal: true });

    try {
      // With the `fatal` option enabled, invalid data will throw a TypeError
      return decoder.decode(data);
    } catch (e) {
      // The second part should not be needed. But Jest does not support instanceof correctly.
      // See: https://github.com/jestjs/jest/issues/2549
      if (
        e instanceof TypeError ||
        (e as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === 'ERR_ENCODING_INVALID_ENCODED_DATA'
      ) {
        throw new Error(`Failed to decode "${path}" as UTF-8 text.`, { cause: e });
      }
      throw e;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to bb72145f9a)

Solutions

  1. Guard with if (!tree.exists(path)) { tree.create(path, defaultContent); } before calling readText.
  2. Use tree.read(path) which returns Buffer|null and handle null yourself.
  3. Fix the path — ensure it is absolute (leading '/') and matches the actual project layout.
  4. Ensure the rule that creates the file executes before the rule that reads it (rule ordering in chain()).

Example fix

// before
const text = tree.readText('/angular.json');
// after
if (!tree.exists('/angular.json')) {
  throw new SchematicsException('Not inside an Angular workspace.');
}
const text = tree.readText('/angular.json');
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (!tree.exists('/angular.json')) {
  throw new SchematicsException('Not inside an Angular workspace.');
}

Type guard

function hasText(tree: Tree, path: string): boolean {
  return tree.read(path) !== null;
}

Try / catch

try { const text = tree.readText(path); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof FileDoesNotExistException) { /* create default or bail with SchematicsException */ } else { throw e; } }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling tree.readText(path) for a path never created or already deleted; also indirectly via content() and applyChanges() when operating on an absent path.

Common situations: A schematic reads a config/template file that the target project does not have (different Angular version, standalone vs module-based, customized workspace); a prior rule's conditional create didn't run; wrong leading-slash path (relative 'src/...' vs '/src/...').

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of angular/angular-cli@bb72145f9a (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2719b6e1774dfa15. Report an issue: GitHub.