gatsbyjs/gatsby · error · Error

Neither "cache" or "getCache" was passed. getCache must be f

Error message

Neither "cache" or "getCache" was passed. getCache must be function that return Gatsby cache, "cache" must be the Gatsby cache, was ${typeof cache}

What it means

createRemoteFileNode needs a cache to store download metadata, dedupe URLs (processingCache is persisted across builds), and track content digests. After trying `getCache('gatsby-source-filesystem')`, if `cache` is still not an object this error fires. The message names both accepted inputs so callers know the two ways to satisfy the requirement.

Source

Thrown at packages/gatsby-source-filesystem/src/create-remote-file-node.js:127

  name = null,
}) {
  // validation of the input
  // without this it's notoriously easy to pass in the wrong `createNodeId`
  // see gatsbyjs/gatsby#6643
  if (typeof createNodeId !== `function`) {
    throw new Error(
      `createNodeId must be a function, was ${typeof createNodeId}`
    )
  }
  if (typeof createNode !== `function`) {
    throw new Error(`createNode must be a function, was ${typeof createNode}`)
  }
  if (typeof getCache === `function`) {
    // use cache of this plugin and not cache of function caller
    cache = getCache(`gatsby-source-filesystem`)
  }
  if (typeof cache !== `object`) {
    throw new Error(
      `Neither "cache" or "getCache" was passed. getCache must be function that return Gatsby cache, "cache" must be the Gatsby cache, was ${typeof cache}`
    )
  }

  // Check if we already requested node for this remote file
  // and return stored promise if we did.
  if (processingCache[url]) {
    return processingCache[url]
  }

  if (!url || isWebUri(url) === undefined) {
    throw new Error(
      `url passed to createRemoteFileNode is either missing or not a proper web uri: ${url}`
    )
  }

  const fileDownloadPromise = processRemoteNode({
    url,

View on GitHub (pinned to 8b06340921)

Solutions

1. Forward cache from helpers: exports.sourceNodes = async ({ cache, actions, createNodeId }) => { await createRemoteFileNode({ url, cache, createNode: actions.createNode, createNodeId }) }.
2. If cache is not directly available, pass getCache so the plugin resolves its own namespaced cache.
3. Confirm the cache object is the Gatsby cache (has get/set/del) and not an unrelated object.
4. Avoid calling createRemoteFileNode outside of a lifecycle that provides cache.

Example fix

// before
await createRemoteFileNode({
  url,
  createNode,
  createNodeId,
})

// after
await createRemoteFileNode({
  url,
  cache,
  createNode,
  createNodeId,
})

if (!(typeof cache === 'object' && cache) && typeof getCache !== 'function') {
  throw new Error('createRemoteFileNode needs cache or getCache from helpers')
}

const isCache = (v) => v && typeof v === 'object' && typeof v.get === 'function'

try { await createRemoteFileNode(opts) } catch (e) { if (/Neither "cache" or "getCache"/.test(e.message)) { reporter.panic('Cache not forwarded to createRemoteFileNode') } throw e }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling createRemoteFileNode without cache or getCache; passing cache: undefined after a refactor; passing a plain object that is not the Gatsby cache instance; using the API inside onPreInit or another lifecycle that lacks cache.

Common situations: Migrating to a newer gatsby-source-filesystem where cache became required; copying example code that omitted cache; building a transformer plugin that calls createRemoteFileNode without forwarding helpers; CI environments where the cache dir is unwritable causing cache resolution to return non-object.

Related errors

• Neither "cache" or "getCache" was passed. getCache must be f
• createNodeId must be a function, was ${typeof createNodeId}
• createNode must be a function, was ${typeof createNode}
• Neither "cache" or "getCache" was passed. getCache must be f
• You must specify either a cache or a directory

AI-assisted analysis of gatsbyjs/gatsby@8b06340921 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/17fa0d5694a68a0b. Report an issue: GitHub.