crowdsecurity/crowdsec · error

can't find cscli binary: %w

Error message

can't find cscli binary: %w

What it means

Identical guard to the crowdsec one, but for the cscli binary: NewHubTest calls resolveBinaryPath(cscliPath) and wraps any failure as 'can't find cscli binary: %w'. Hub test items drive cscli (e.g. `machines add`) against the runtime environment, so a missing cscli makes the test unusable.

Source

Thrown at pkg/hubtest/hubtest.go:125

	}

	sharedDataDir := filepath.Join(hubPath, ".cache", "data")
	if err = os.MkdirAll(sharedDataDir, 0o700); err != nil {
		return HubTest{}, fmt.Errorf("while creating data dir: %w", err)
	}

	// we can't use hubtest without the hub
	if _, err = os.Stat(hubPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
		return HubTest{}, fmt.Errorf("path to hub '%s' doesn't exist, can't run", hubPath)
	}
	// we can't use hubtest without crowdsec binary
	if crowdsecPath, err = resolveBinaryPath(crowdsecPath); err != nil {
		return HubTest{}, fmt.Errorf("can't find crowdsec binary: %w", err)
	}

	// we can't use hubtest without cscli binary
	if cscliPath, err = resolveBinaryPath(cscliPath); err != nil {
		return HubTest{}, fmt.Errorf("can't find cscli binary: %w", err)
	}

	if isAppsecTest {
		HubTestPath := filepath.Join(hubPath, ".appsec-tests")
		hubIndexFile := filepath.Join(hubPath, ".index.json")

		local := &csconfig.LocalHubCfg{
			HubDir:         hubPath,
			HubIndexFile:   hubIndexFile,
			InstallDir:     HubTestPath,
			InstallDataDir: sharedDataDir,
		}

		hub, err := cwhub.NewHub(local, nil)
		if err != nil {
			return HubTest{}, err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 909b515798)

Solutions

1. Run `make build` so ./cscli exists alongside crowdsec, then pass its absolute path to NewHubTest.
2. Check the path exists and is executable: `ls -l <cscliPath>`; chmod +x if needed.
3. Ensure cscli is on $PATH if you rely on name-only resolution (`command -v cscli`).

Example fix

// before
ht, err := hubtest.NewHubTest(ctx, hubPath, crowdsecPath, "cscli", false)
// after
ht, err := hubtest.NewHubTest(ctx, hubPath, crowdsecPath, "/abs/path/to/cscli", false)

if _, err := os.Stat(cscliPath); err != nil || func() bool { fi, _ := os.Stat(cscliPath); return fi.Mode()&0o111 == 0 }() {
    return fmt.Errorf("cscli missing or not executable: %s", cscliPath)
}

func cscliReady(p string) bool {
    fi, err := os.Stat(p)
    return err == nil && !fi.IsDir() && fi.Mode()&0o111 != 0
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling hubtest.NewHubTest with a cscliPath that is empty with no cscli on PATH, nonexistent, or not executable.

Common situations: Building only the crowdsec binary (e.g. `go build ./cmd/crowdsec`) and forgetting cscli; PATH not including the build output directory; typo'd path after moving the binary between containers in CI.

Related errors

• can't find crowdsec binary: %w
• ErrNucleiRunFail
• %q is a directory, not a file
• log file '%s' is empty, please fill it with log
• error while stats '%s': %w

AI-assisted analysis of crowdsecurity/crowdsec@909b515798 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2c9ec9053995044f. Report an issue: GitHub.