dagger/dagger · error

failed to find decl for object %s: %w

Error message

failed to find decl for object %s: %w

What it means

After collecting the typed constants that make up a Go enum, parseGoEnum calls astSpecForObj to find the AST declaration for each constant so docs/pragmas/source maps can be extracted. If the AST node for the constant cannot be located, codegen fails with `failed to find decl for object %s`. This means the type-checked object and the parsed AST files are inconsistent.

Source

Thrown at cmd/codegen/generator/go/templates/module_enums.go:140

			continue
		}

		name := obj.Name()
		value := ""
		if objConst.Val().Kind() == constant.String {
			value = constant.StringVal(objConst.Val())
		} else {
			value = objConst.Val().ExactString()
		}

		valueSpec := &parsedEnumMember{
			originalName: name,
			name:         name,
			value:        value,
		}
		astSpec, err := ps.astSpecForObj(objConst)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to find decl for object %s: %w", spec.name, err)
		}

		pragmas := make(map[string]any)
		comment := ""
		if doc := docForAstSpec(astSpec); doc != nil {
			docPragmas, docComment := parsePragmaComment(doc.Text())
			comment = strings.TrimSpace(docComment)
			maps.Copy(pragmas, docPragmas)
		}
		if val, ok := astSpec.(*ast.ValueSpec); ok && val.Comment != nil {
			linePragmas, lineComment := parsePragmaComment(val.Comment.Text())
			if comment == "" {
				comment = strings.TrimSpace(lineComment)
			}
			maps.Copy(pragmas, linePragmas)
		}

		if raw, ok := pragmas["deprecated"]; ok {

View on GitHub (pinned to 82ba2681db)

Solutions

1. Move the enum constants into a file that is part of the module package and not excluded by ignore patterns (e.g. not under a dagger-ignored directory, not generated dagger.gen.go).
2. Verify the constants are in the same Go package that codegen parses; move them out of test files or other packages.
3. Clear stale state (`dagger mod codegen regenerate`, remove .dagger build artifacts) and re-run `dagger develop`.
4. Check the wrapped error (`%w`) printed after this message for the underlying reason (e.g. position lookup failure) and fix accordingly.

Example fix

// before: enum consts live in an ignored file (e.g. under an ignored dir)
// ignored/consts.go
const FlavorSweet Flavor = "sweet"

// after: move them into the module package alongside the type
// flavor.go
type Flavor string

const FlavorSweet Flavor = "sweet"

// ensure enum constants live in parseable module package files
// before codegen, confirm the constant has a position in a loaded file:
// grep -rn "FlavorSweet" . --include='*.go'   # must be in the module package, not an ignored dir
// check ignore rules:
cat .daggerignore 2>/dev/null || echo "no .daggerignore"

When it happens

Trigger: An enum constant (`const FlavorSweet Flavor = "sweet"`) exists in type-checked package info but its declaration cannot be matched in the loaded AST — e.g. the file defining the constant was excluded from the AST load (codegen ignore patterns) or stale package state.

Common situations: The constant is defined in a file ignored by codegen (dagger ignore settings, dagger.gen.go exclusions) while the type is still referenced; mismatched package loading after moving files between packages; stale module cache after refactoring.

Related errors

• failed to find decl for named type %s: %w
• enum types must be named
• failed to find decl for named type %s: %w
• expected type spec, got %T
• failed to generate enum code for %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of dagger/dagger@82ba2681db (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/072c4f5d52d82bce. Report an issue: GitHub.