badges/shields · error · InvalidParameter

not a directory

Error message

not a directory

What it means

github-directory-file-count's static transform() expects the fetched content to be an array of directory entries. If `files` is not an Array (the GraphQL object was not a tree — e.g. it's a blob or null entries), it throws InvalidParameter 'not a directory'. The requested path exists but isn't a directory, so a file count is meaningless.

Source

Thrown at services/github/github-directory-file-count.service.js:125

              ... on Tree {
                entries {
                  type
                  extension
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      `,
      variables: { user, repo, expression },
      schema,
      transformErrors,
    })
  }

  static transform(files, { type, extension }) {
    if (!Array.isArray(files)) {
      throw new InvalidParameter({ prettyMessage: 'not a directory' })
    }

    if (type !== 'file' && extension) {
      throw new InvalidParameter({
        prettyMessage: 'extension is applicable for type file only',
      })
    }

    if (type) {
      const objectType = type === 'dir' ? 'tree' : 'blob'
      files = files.filter(file => file.type === objectType)
    }

    if (extension) {
      files = files.filter(file => file.extension === `.${extension}`)
    }

    return {

View on GitHub (pinned to 766fd8bc89)

Solutions

1. Point the `path` parameter at a directory, not a file (drop README.md-style paths).
2. Omit `path` entirely to count files in the repository root.
3. Verify the path exists as a folder on GitHub (it should render as a directory listing).

Example fix

// before
/service/github/directory-file-count/user/repo/src/index.js.json
// after
/service/github/directory-file-count/user/repo/src.json

// confirm path is a directory via the contents API
const meta = await fetch('https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/contents/' + path).then(r => r.json());
if (!Array.isArray(meta)) throw new Error('path is not a directory');

function isDirectoryListing(entries) {
  return Array.isArray(entries) && entries.every(e => e != null && typeof e.path === 'string' && typeof e.type === 'string');
}

try {
  const { count } = await getDirectoryFileCount({ user, repo, path });
} catch (e) {
  if (e.prettyMessage === 'not a directory') {
    // fix the path param to point at a folder
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Requesting a directory file count where the `path` param points at a file (blob) instead of a folder — the API returns a single object rather than an entries array, which fails the Array.isArray check.

Common situations: Typos in badge URLs pointing at a file like README.md; path pointing to repo root with an incorrect `dir` value; repos where the documented folder was replaced by a single file.

Related errors

• directory not found
• no common ancestor
• extension is applicable for type file only
• strict ssl is required
• invalid url parameter

AI-assisted analysis of badges/shields@766fd8bc89 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/942602608306bcf1. Report an issue: GitHub.