crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ValueError

action='replace' requires 'paths' (list of file paths).

Error message

action='replace' requires 'paths' (list of file paths).

What it means

DaytonaFileToolSchema._validate_action_args handles action='replace' (bulk find-and-replace across multiple files) specially: it requires 'paths', a list of file paths to operate on. Unlike single-file actions, replace works on a list, so a missing or empty paths raises this ValueError.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/daytona_sandbox_tool/daytona_file_tool.py:208

            raise ValueError(
                "action='append' requires 'content'. Pass the chunk to append "
                "in the 'content' field."
            )
        if self.action == "move" and not self.destination:
            raise ValueError("action='move' requires 'destination'.")
        if self.action == "find" and not self.pattern:
            raise ValueError(
                "action='find' requires 'pattern' (text to search for inside files)."
            )
        if self.action == "search" and not self.pattern:
            raise ValueError("action='search' requires 'pattern' (glob, e.g. '*.py').")
        if self.action == "chmod" and not (self.mode or self.owner or self.group):
            raise ValueError(
                "action='chmod' requires at least one of 'mode', 'owner', or 'group'."
            )
        if self.action == "replace":
            if not self.paths:
                raise ValueError(
                    "action='replace' requires 'paths' (list of file paths)."
                )
            if not self.pattern:
                raise ValueError("action='replace' requires 'pattern'.")
            if self.replacement is None:
                raise ValueError("action='replace' requires 'replacement'.")
        return self


class DaytonaFileTool(DaytonaBaseTool):
    """Read, write, and manage files inside a Daytona sandbox.

    Notes:
      - Most useful with `persistent=True` or an explicit `sandbox_id`. With the
        default ephemeral mode, files disappear when this tool call finishes.
    """

    name: str = "Daytona Sandbox Files"

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

  1. Use the list field: tool.run(action='replace', paths=['/workspace/a.py','/workspace/b.py'], pattern='foo', replacement='bar').
  2. If the list is produced dynamically, assert it is non-empty before calling.
  3. Remember replace ignores 'path' entirely — only 'paths' counts.

Example fix

# before
tool.run(action="replace", path="/workspace/a.py", pattern="foo", replacement="bar")  # ValueError: paths missing

# after
tool.run(action="replace", paths=["/workspace/a.py"], pattern="foo", replacement="bar")
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

def validate_replace(paths: list[str] | None, pattern: str | None, replacement: str | None) -> None:
    if not paths:
        raise ValueError("replace requires non-empty 'paths' list")
    if not pattern:
        raise ValueError("replace requires 'pattern'")
    if replacement is None:
        raise ValueError("replace requires explicit 'replacement' (may be '')")

validate_replace(paths, pattern, replacement)

Try / catch

try:
    tool.run(action="replace", paths=ps, pattern=pat, replacement=rep)
except ValidationError as e:
    if "requires 'paths'" in str(e):
        ps = [p] if isinstance(p, str) else list(ps or [])
        tool.run(action="replace", paths=ps, pattern=pat, replacement=rep)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DaytonaFileTool with action='replace', pattern and replacement set, but paths omitted/empty; passing a single string in 'path' instead of the list field 'paths'.

Common situations: Caller mixes up path (single file) and paths (list) for the replace action; agent emits paths=None; upstream glob returned an empty list.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1e9249f05b516f1e. Report an issue: GitHub.