crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ValueError

action='search' requires 'pattern' (glob, e.g. '*.py').

Error message

action='search' requires 'pattern' (glob, e.g. '*.py').

What it means

DaytonaFileToolSchema._validate_action_args requires action='search' to carry a pattern, where 'search' means glob-style filename search (e.g. '*.py'). A missing or empty pattern raises this ValueError during input validation, before the sandbox filesystem is touched.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/daytona_sandbox_tool/daytona_file_tool.py:201

    )

    @model_validator(mode="after")
    def _validate_action_args(self) -> DaytonaFileToolSchema:
        if self.action != "replace" and not self.path:
            raise ValueError(f"action={self.action!r} requires 'path'.")
        if self.action == "append" and self.content is None:
            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.

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

  1. Provide a glob: tool.run(action='search', path='/workspace', pattern='*.py').
  2. For content search, switch to action='find' with the literal text as pattern.
  3. Double-check the field name is exactly 'pattern'.

Example fix

# before
tool.run(action="search", path="/workspace")  # ValueError

# after
tool.run(action="search", path="/workspace", pattern="*.py")
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

def validate_search(path: str | None, pattern: str | None) -> None:
    if not path:
        raise ValueError("search requires path (directory)")
    if not pattern:
        raise ValueError("search requires pattern = glob like '*.py'")

validate_search(path, pattern)

Try / catch

try:
    tool.run(action="search", path=p, pattern=pat)
except ValidationError as e:
    if "glob" in str(e):
        pat = "*"  # or a more specific glob
        tool.run(action="search", path=p, pattern=pat)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DaytonaFileTool with action='search' and a directory path but no pattern; passing the search text in the wrong field; passing a glob into a different argument name.

Common situations: Agent confuses search (glob) with find (file contents); caller passes pattern as 'query' or 'glob'; empty pattern from a formatted string that evaluated to ''.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e761648463743e00. Report an issue: GitHub.