No version is set for %s; please run `asdf set [options] %s

Error message

No version is set for %s; please run `asdf set [options] %s <version>`

What it means

`asdf where <tool>` could not resolve any version for the tool in the current directory or its config chain, so there is no install path to print. The message tells the user to run `asdf set` to pin a version.

Source

Thrown at internal/cli/cli.go:1551

		versions, found, err := resolve.Version(conf, plugin, currentDir)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Printf("err %#+v\n", err)
			return err
		}

		if found && len(versions.Versions) > 0 {
			versionStruct := toolversions.Version{Type: "version", Value: versions.Versions[0]}
			if installs.IsInstalled(conf, plugin, versionStruct) {
				installPath := installs.InstallPath(conf, plugin, versionStruct)
				fmt.Printf("%s", installPath)
				return nil
			}
		}

		// not found
		msg := fmt.Sprintf("No version is set for %s; please run `asdf set [options] %s <version>`", tool, tool)
		logger.Print(msg)
		return errors.New(msg)
	}

	if !installs.IsInstalled(conf, plugin, version) {
		logger.Printf("Version not installed")
		return errors.New("Version not installed")
	}

	installPath := installs.InstallPath(conf, plugin, version)
	fmt.Printf("%s", installPath)

	return nil
}

func loadPlugin(logger *log.Logger, conf config.Config, pluginName string) (plugins.Plugin, error) {
	plugin := plugins.New(conf, pluginName)
	err := plugin.Exists()
	if err != nil {
		logger.Printf("No such plugin: %s", pluginName)

View on GitHub (pinned to 074a1722ca)

Solutions

Pin a version in the current directory: `asdf set <tool> <version>` or add `<tool> <version>` to .tool-versions
Set a default: add the tool+version to ~/.config/asdf/default (or ~/.tool-versions) so subdirectories resolve
Confirm the tool name spelling matches the installed plugin name (`asdf plugin list`)

Example fix

// before (.tool-versions missing nodejs)
python 3.12.1
// after
python 3.12.1
nodejs 20.12.0

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if ! grep -qE "^$TOOL[[:space:]]+" .tool-versions 2>/dev/null \
   && ! grep -qE "^$TOOL[[:space:]]+" ~/.config/asdf/default 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "no version set for $TOOL; run asdf set $TOOL <version>" >&2
fi

Try / catch

out=$(asdf where "$TOOL" 2>&1) || {
  case "$out" in
    *"No version is set"*) asdf set "$TOOL" "$DEFAULT_VER";;
    *) echo "$out" >&2;;
  esac
}

Prevention

Commit a .tool-versions to every project repo
Set a global default for tools you use everywhere
Check tool-name spelling against `asdf plugin list`

When it happens

Trigger: Running `asdf where <tool>` where resolve finds no version in .tool-versions (current or parent dirs) and no default version is configured.

Common situations: Fresh clones missing .tool-versions; tool name typo in .tool-versions; no global default set in ~/.tool-versions or asdf config after a fresh install.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of asdf-vm/asdf@074a1722ca (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8eaea8de1931841c. Report an issue: GitHub.