dbt-labs/dbt-core · error

formula file not found: {}

Error message

formula file not found: {}

What it means

`dbt-ci homebrew publish` verifies early in `run` that the `--formula` argument points at an existing file before attempting to publish a Homebrew formula. If the path does not exist or is a directory, the command aborts with `bail!("formula file not found: ...")`. This is a fail-fast input validation to avoid publishing garbage or failing later in the pipeline.

Source

Thrown at crates/dbt-ci/src/homebrew/publish.rs:43

use std::fs;
use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
use std::process::{Command, ExitCode, Stdio};

pub fn execute(args: HomebrewPublishArgs) -> ExitCode {
    match run(args) {
        Ok(()) => ExitCode::SUCCESS,
        Err(e) => {
            eprintln!("error: {e:#}");
            ExitCode::from(2)
        }
    }
}

fn run(args: HomebrewPublishArgs) -> Result<()> {
    validate_release_version(&args.version)
        .with_context(|| format!("invalid --version {:?}", args.version))?;
    if !args.formula.is_file() {
        bail!("formula file not found: {}", args.formula.display());
    }
    let filename = args
        .formula
        .file_name()
        .and_then(|s| s.to_str())
        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("formula path has no filename: {}", args.formula.display()))?
        .to_string();
    if !filename.ends_with(".rb") {
        bail!("formula filename does not end in .rb: {filename}");
    }

    let token = read_token(&args.token_env, args.dry_run)?;
    // For HTTPS tap URLs, build an `http.extraHeader` config knob carrying
    // Basic auth credentials. Non-HTTPS URLs (file://, ssh) carry their
    // own auth.
    let auth_args = build_auth_args(&args.tap_repo, token.as_deref());

    let work = TempDir::new("dbt-ci-brew-publish")?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)

Solutions

1. Verify the path passed to `--formula` exists: run `ls -l <path>` and correct any typo.
2. If using a relative path, run the command from the directory where the formula lives, or pass an absolute path.
3. Confirm the CI job actually checked out the repository containing the formula before running publish.

Example fix

// before
dbt-ci homebrew publish --formula Formula/dbt.rb  # run from wrong cwd
// after
dbt-ci homebrew publish --formula /abs/path/to/repo/Formula/dbt.rb

use std::path::Path;
fn validate_formula_path(p: &Path) -> Result<(), String> {
    if !p.is_file() {
        return Err(format!("formula file not found: {}", p.display()));
    }
    Ok(())
}

match publish(args) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("formula file not found") => {
        eprintln!("Check --formula path: {} (cwd: {:?})", args.formula.display(), std::env::current_dir());
        std::process::exit(2);
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
    Ok(v) => Ok(v),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `dbt-ci homebrew publish` with a `--formula` path that (a) does not exist on disk, (b) is a directory rather than a file, or (c) contains a typo/relative path resolved from the wrong working directory.

Common situations: Typo in the formula filename; running the command from a different directory than expected so a relative path doesn't resolve; CI checkout missing the `.rb` formula; passing a directory (e.g., a `Formula/` folder) instead of the specific file.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• formula filename does not end in .rb: {filename}
• --commit-author and --commit-email must be set together
• no `{prefix}{version}-*.tar.gz` tarballs found in {source_de
• --download-base-url requires at least one --target
• formula path has no filename: {}

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a53b51427defa3c8. Report an issue: GitHub.