chenhg5/cc-connect · error

path does not exist

Error message

path does not exist

What it means

renderReferenceView calls os.Stat on the resolved path; if the path does not exist on disk it returns a friendly 'path does not exist' error (wrapping other stat errors as-is). This guards against rendering stale or mistyped file references.

Source

Thrown at core/reference_show.go:77

	}
	return req, nil
}

func renderReferenceView(req *referenceViewRequest) (string, error) {
	if req == nil || req.Ref == nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("nil view request")
	}
	path := req.Ref.pathAbs
	if path == "" {
		path = req.Ref.pathOriginal
	}
	if path == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("empty path")
	}
	info, err := os.Stat(path)
	if err != nil {
		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("path does not exist")
		}
		return "", err
	}
	if info.IsDir() {
		if req.Ref.locationFormat != referenceLocationNone {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("directory reference cannot carry a location")
		}
		return renderReferenceDir(path, req)
	}
	return renderReferenceFile(path, req)
}

func renderReferenceFile(path string, req *referenceViewRequest) (string, error) {
	var (
		lines     []string
		truncated bool
		err       error
		note      string

View on GitHub (pinned to 4000b2338a)

Solutions

1. Verify the file exists at the resolved path before calling cmdShow (ls / os.Stat)
2. Re-create the reference against the current workspace so pathAbs points at a live file
3. Check the process working directory if the reference uses a relative path

Example fix

// before
show("old_notes.go") // file was deleted
// after
if _, err := os.Stat("old_notes.go"); err != nil {
    // re-add or pick an existing file
}
show("notes.go")

if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot show %s: %w", path, err)
}

func pathExists(p string) bool { _, err := os.Stat(p); return err == nil }

out, err := renderReferenceView(req)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "path does not exist") {
    return "reference no longer exists on disk", nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: os.Stat returns an error satisfying os.IsNotExist — the referenced file/directory was deleted, renamed, or the path was never correct (including wrong working directory for relative paths).

Common situations: User sends /show for a file that has since been removed; reference captured in one workspace but resolved in another; typo in the path; relative path resolved against an unexpected cwd.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• create Agy permission overlay: %w
• read existing Agy hooks %s: %w
• write Agy hooks overlay: %w
• read Agy config directory %s: %w
• link Agy config %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of chenhg5/cc-connect@4000b2338a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6965cd5c793bc1c. Report an issue: GitHub.