chocolatey/choco · error · ApplicationException

Unable to find path to requested template '{0}'. Path should

Error message

Unable to find path to requested template '{0}'. Path should be '{1}'

What it means

When generating from a custom template, if the template directory under TemplatesLocation/<TemplateName> does not exist, TemplateService throws ApplicationException with the requested template name and the expected path. The default 'default' fallback is only applied when TemplateName is blank.

Source

Thrown at src/chocolatey/infrastructure.app/services/TemplateService.cs:179

            {
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, NuspecTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageLocation, "{0}.nuspec".FormatWith(tokens.PackageNameLower)), _utf8WithoutBOM);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyInstallTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageToolsLocation, "chocolateyinstall.ps1"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyBeforeModifyTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageToolsLocation, "chocolateybeforemodify.ps1"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyUninstallTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageToolsLocation, "chocolateyuninstall.ps1"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyLicenseFileTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageToolsLocation, "LICENSE.txt"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyVerificationFileTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageToolsLocation, "VERIFICATION.txt"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyReadMeTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageLocation, "ReadMe.md"), Encoding.UTF8);
                GenerateFileFromTemplate(configuration, tokens, ChocolateyTodoTemplate.Template, _fileSystem.CombinePaths(packageLocation, "_TODO.txt"), Encoding.UTF8);
            }
            else
            {
                configuration.NewCommand.TemplateName = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(configuration.NewCommand.TemplateName) ? "default" : configuration.NewCommand.TemplateName;

                var templatePath = _fileSystem.CombinePaths(ApplicationParameters.TemplatesLocation, configuration.NewCommand.TemplateName);
                var templateParameterCachePath = _fileSystem.CombinePaths(templatePath, _templateParameterCacheFilename);
                if (!_fileSystem.DirectoryExists(templatePath))
                {
                    throw new ApplicationException("Unable to find path to requested template '{0}'. Path should be '{1}'".FormatWith(configuration.NewCommand.TemplateName, templatePath));
                }

                this.Log().Info(configuration.QuietOutput ? logger : ChocolateyLoggers.Important, "Generating package from custom template at '{0}'.".FormatWith(templatePath));

                // Create directory structure from template so as to include empty directories
                foreach (var directory in _fileSystem.GetDirectories(templatePath, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
                {
                    var packageDirectoryLocation = directory.Replace(templatePath, packageLocation);
                    this.Log().Debug("Creating directory {0}".FormatWith(packageDirectoryLocation));
                    _fileSystem.EnsureDirectoryExists(packageDirectoryLocation);
                }
                foreach (var file in _fileSystem.GetFiles(templatePath, "*.*", SearchOption.AllDirectories))
                {
                    var packageFileLocation = file.Replace(templatePath, packageLocation);
                    var fileExtension = _fileSystem.GetFileExtension(packageFileLocation);

                    if (fileExtension.IsEqualTo(".nuspec"))
                    {

View on GitHub (pinned to 0d5abdd10c)

Solutions

1. Install the template package first (choco install <name>.template)
2. Verify the exact template folder name under the templates location (case-sensitive on some filesystems)
3. Check the spelling of the --template value
4. Omit --template to use the built-in default template

Example fix

// before
choco new mypkg --template=custom
# (custom template not installed)
// after
choco install custom.template
choco new mypkg --template=custom

var templateName = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(config.NewCommand.TemplateName) ? "default" : config.NewCommand.TemplateName;
var templatePath = fileSystem.CombinePaths(ApplicationParameters.TemplatesLocation, templateName);
if (!fileSystem.DirectoryExists(templatePath)) {
    throw new DirectoryNotFoundException($"Template '{templateName}' not found at '{templatePath}'. Install it first.");
}

try { templateService.Generate(config); }
catch (ApplicationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Unable to find path to requested template")) {
    logger.Error(ex.Message); // install the template package then retry
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running choco new with a custom --template=<name> where combine(TemplatesLocation, TemplateName) does not exist (DirectoryExists false), and TemplateName was non-empty so it is not defaulted.

Common situations: Referencing a template package that was never installed; a typo or wrong case in the template name; templates location differs from the expected path.

Related errors

• The location for the template already exists. You can:{0} 1.
• Source '{0}' is unable to be parsed
• Unable to find requested template '{0}'
• Cannot move or delete the root of the system drive
• An exception occurred while copying files to '{0}'

AI-assisted analysis of chocolatey/choco@0d5abdd10c (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1643b7a0e797e800. Report an issue: GitHub.