crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ValueError

action='search' requires 'path' and 'pattern'

Error message

action='search' requires 'path' and 'pattern'

What it means

action='search' in DaytonaFileTool._run requires 'path' (file or directory to scan) and 'pattern' (text/regex to look for); missing either raises ValueError before self._search runs. Unlike 'find' (filename globbing), search inspects file contents, but the validation shape is identical. This is argument validation, not a search failure.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/daytona_sandbox_tool/daytona_file_tool.py:301

                if path is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='info' requires 'path'")
                return self._info(sandbox, path)
            if action == "exists":
                if path is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='exists' requires 'path'")
                return self._exists(sandbox, path)
            if action == "move":
                if path is None or destination is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='move' requires 'path' and 'destination'")
                sandbox.fs.move_files(path, destination)
                return {"status": "moved", "from": path, "to": destination}
            if action == "find":
                if path is None or pattern is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='find' requires 'path' and 'pattern'")
                return self._find(sandbox, path, pattern)
            if action == "search":
                if path is None or pattern is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='search' requires 'path' and 'pattern'")
                return self._search(sandbox, path, pattern)
            if action == "chmod":
                if path is None:
                    raise ValueError("action='chmod' requires 'path'")
                return self._chmod(sandbox, path, mode=mode, owner=owner, group=group)
            if action == "replace":
                if paths is None or pattern is None or replacement is None:
                    raise ValueError(
                        "action='replace' requires 'paths', 'pattern', and "
                        "'replacement'"
                    )
                return self._replace(sandbox, paths, pattern, replacement)
            raise ValueError(f"Unknown action: {action}")
        finally:
            self._release_sandbox(sandbox, should_delete)

    def _read(self, sandbox: Any, path: str, *, binary: bool) -> dict[str, Any]:
        data: bytes = sandbox.fs.download_file(path)

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

  1. Pass both arguments: _run(action='search', path='/src/app', pattern='API_KEY').
  2. Validate that action='search' calls include path and pattern before invoking the tool.
  3. Clarify in the tool description that pattern here is content text/regex, not a filename glob.

Example fix

# before
file_tool._run(action='search', query='API_KEY')

# after
file_tool._run(action='search', path='/src/app', pattern='API_KEY')
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

def search_contents(file_tool, path: str | None, pattern: str | None):
    if not path or not pattern:
        raise ValueError("action='search' requires 'path' and 'pattern'")
    return file_tool._run(action='search', path=path, pattern=pattern)

Try / catch

try:
    res = file_tool._run(action='search', path=path, pattern=pattern)
except ValueError as e:
    if "action='search'" in str(e):
        return {'error': 'missing path or pattern', 'retry_with': {'path': path, 'pattern': pattern}}
    raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling _run(action='search', path='/src') with no pattern; _run(action='search', pattern='TODO') with no path; agents swapping in 'query' or 'regex' as the kwarg name.

Common situations: Agents emitting a generic 'query' field instead of 'pattern'; users assuming search defaults to the whole sandbox; mixing up find and search argument expectations.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/afcd2b8348a588e3. Report an issue: GitHub.