caddyserver/caddy · error

checking if default Caddyfile exists: %v

Error message

checking if default Caddyfile exists: %v

What it means

While looking for a default adjacent Caddyfile, os.Stat returned an error other than fs.ErrNotExist (e.g. permission denied on a parent directory). The existence check itself is what failed, so Caddy aborts instead of silently ignoring the default file.

Source

Thrown at cmd/commandfuncs.go:923

// configFileWithRespectToDefault returns the filename to use for loading the config, based
// on whether a config file is already specified and a supported default config file exists.
func configFileWithRespectToDefault(logger *zap.Logger, configFile string) (string, error) {
	const defaultCaddyfile = "Caddyfile"

	// if no input file was specified, try a default Caddyfile if the Caddyfile adapter is plugged in
	if configFile == "" && caddyconfig.GetAdapter("caddyfile") != nil {
		_, err := os.Stat(defaultCaddyfile)
		if err == nil {
			// default Caddyfile exists
			if logger != nil {
				logger.Info("using adjacent Caddyfile")
			}
			return defaultCaddyfile, nil
		}
		if !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
			// problem checking
			return configFile, fmt.Errorf("checking if default Caddyfile exists: %v", err)
		}
	}

	// default config file does not exist or is irrelevant
	return configFile, nil
}

type moduleInfo struct {
	caddyModuleID string
	goModule      *debug.Module
	err           error
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 50e54ee279)

Solutions

1. Check directory permissions along the path to the Caddyfile
2. Run the CLI from a directory you can read/stat
3. Pass --config explicitly to bypass default-file discovery

Example fix

# before
caddy run   # stat ./Caddyfile fails with EACCES

# after
chmod +rx ~/workdir && caddy run --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Ensure the working directory is traversable before running caddy:
test -r ./Caddyfile || true   # any stat error other than missing will surface here first

When it happens

Trigger: Running the CLI in a directory where a path component of ./Caddyfile cannot be traversed due to permissions, or an exotic filesystem returning an unexpected stat error.

Common situations: Homedir with restrictive permissions when running as a different user; containers with read-only or oddly mounted workdirs; rarely, race where the file disappears between stat calls returning something other than NotExist.

Related errors

• reading default Caddyfile: %v
• backing up current binary: %v
• reading config from file: %v
• reading environment file: %v
• retrieving current executable permission bits: %v

AI-assisted analysis of caddyserver/caddy@50e54ee279 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/efc7796515dc9d10. Report an issue: GitHub.