bevyengine/bevy · error · AssetLoadError::EmptyPath

Attempted to load an asset with an empty path "{0}".

Error message

Attempted to load an asset with an empty path "{0}".

What it means

AssetLoadError::EmptyPath is thrown by bevy_asset's AssetServer when get_handle or load is called with an AssetPath whose path string is empty. The server validates paths before doing any I/O and rejects empty paths immediately because no asset could ever be resolved from them. The error carries the (empty) AssetPath for diagnostics.

Source

Thrown at crates/bevy_asset/src/server/mod.rs:2228

pub struct RequestedHandleTypeMismatchError {
    /// The path of the asset.
    pub path: AssetPath<'static>,
    /// The requested type id of handle.
    pub requested: TypeId,
    /// The actual loaded asset type name.
    pub actual_asset_name: &'static str,
    /// The loader name used to load the asset.
    pub loader_name: &'static str,
}

/// An error that occurs during an [`Asset`] load.
#[derive(Error, Debug, Clone)]
#[expect(
    missing_docs,
    reason = "Adding docs to the variants would not add information beyond the error message and the names"
)]
pub enum AssetLoadError {
    #[error("Attempted to load an asset with an empty path \"{0}\".")]
    EmptyPath(AssetPath<'static>),
    #[error("Asset path \"{0}\" is unapproved. See UnapprovedPathMode for details.")]
    UnapprovedPath(AssetPath<'static>),
    #[error(transparent)]
    RequestedHandleTypeMismatch(#[from] Box<RequestedHandleTypeMismatchError>),
    #[error("Could not find an asset loader matching: Asset Type: {asset_type_id:?}; Path: {asset_path:?};")]
    MissingAssetLoader {
        asset_type_id: Option<TypeId>,
        asset_path: String,
    },
    #[error(transparent)]
    MissingAssetLoaderForExtension(#[from] MissingAssetLoaderForExtensionError),
    #[error(transparent)]
    MissingAssetLoaderForTypeName(#[from] MissingAssetLoaderForTypeNameError),
    #[error(transparent)]
    MissingAssetLoaderForTypeIdError(#[from] MissingAssetLoaderForTypeIdError),
    #[error(transparent)]
    AssetReaderError(#[from] AssetReaderError),

View on GitHub (pinned to 227d3a6c66)

Solutions

1. Check the path value right before the load call and skip or fix empty strings
2. Fix the config/source that produced the empty path (missing field, unset env var, failed concat)
3. Use Option<String> for optional asset paths in your config types so absence is explicit instead of ""
4. Log the empty path at the source to find which config entry is blank

Example fix

// before
let path: String = config.icon_path.clone();
let handle: Handle<Image> = server.load(&path); // panics/errors when path == ""
// after
let handle: Handle<Image> = if config.icon_path.is_empty() {
    Handle::default() // or skip loading entirely
} else {
    server.load(&config.icon_path)
};

fn validate_asset_path(path: &str) -> Result<&str, String> {
    if path.is_empty() {
        Err("asset path is empty".to_string())
    } else {
        Ok(path)
    }
}

fn has_asset_path(path: &Option<String>) -> bool {
    path.as_deref().map(|p| !p.is_empty()).unwrap_or(false)
}

match server.load_checked(&path) {
    Ok(handle) => handle,
    Err(AssetLoadError::EmptyPath(p)) => {
        error!("empty asset path: {p:?}");
        Handle::default()
    }
    Err(e) => panic!("asset load failed: {e}"),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AssetServer::load, get_handle, or load_folder with an empty string/AssetPath; constructing AssetPath::parse("") and passing it to the server; a config file or field that supplies the asset path being an empty string.

Common situations: Config/scene files where a path field was left empty or an env-driven path variable resolved to ""; string concatenation where the prefix failed to load so the result is ""; deserializing assets lists from JSON/RON where a missing entry defaults to an empty string.

Related errors

• Asset path "{0}" is unapproved. See UnapprovedPathMode for d
• missing texture atlas layout for the font
• missing texture for the font atlas
• Error while trying to read the world file: {0}
• Could not parse RON: {0}

AI-assisted analysis of bevyengine/bevy@227d3a6c66 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c93e0689b79fdfa4. Report an issue: GitHub.