created a slice and didn't pass the path to the component

Error message

${pluginName} created a slice and didn't pass the path to the component

What it means

Thrown by createSlice when validateComponent returns an error for the slice component (no path / not absolute / does not exist / empty / no default export, codes 11333/11335/11336/11337/11338) and the error does not set panicOnBuild, so report.panic runs. Mirrors the createPage component validation but for slice components. Skipped when NODE_ENV==='test'.

Solutions

Pass an absolute path via path.resolve for the slice component.
Ensure the file exists with the exact casing used in code.
Ensure the component file has a default export.
Check the specific validateComponent error code (11333-11338) printed in the message for the precise failure.

Example fix

// before
actions.createSlice({ id: `header`, component: `./src/slices/header.js` })
// after
actions.createSlice({ id: `header`, component: path.resolve(`./src/slices/header.js`) })
// src/slices/header.js
export default () => <header>...</header>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const path = require('path'), fs = require('fs')
const abs = path.isAbsolute(payload.component) ? payload.component : path.resolve(payload.component)
if (!fs.existsSync(abs)) throw new Error(`Slice component not found: ${abs}`)
actions.createSlice({ ...payload, component: abs })

Type guard

function isAbsoluteExistingSliceComponent(p: string): boolean {
  return typeof p === 'string' && path.isAbsolute(p) && require('fs').existsSync(p)
}

Prevention

Always resolve slice component paths to absolute.
Match file casing exactly (case-sensitive on Linux CI).
Ensure each slice component has a default export.
Guard createSlice calls behind an existence check during dynamic generation.

When it happens

Trigger: payload.component fails validateComponent (missing, relative, non-existent, empty, or no default export) and panicOnBuild is false.

Common situations: Passing a relative path for the slice component; typo in filename; a slice component file with no default export; case mismatch surfaced by trueCasePathSync on Linux CI.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gatsbyjs/gatsby@8b06340921 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/57a86211d6dd3926. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/gatsby/src/redux/actions/restricted.ts:501

      const { slices } = store.getState()

      const { error, panicOnBuild } = validateComponent({
        input: payload,
        pluginName: name,
        errorIdMap: {
          noPath: `11333`,
          notAbsolute: `11335`,
          doesNotExist: `11336`,
          empty: `11337`,
          noDefaultExport: `11338`,
        },
      })

      if (error && process.env.NODE_ENV !== `test`) {
        if (panicOnBuild) {
          report.panicOnBuild(error)
        } else {
          report.panic(error)
        }
      }

      const componentPath = normalizePath(payload.component)

      const oldSlice = slices.get(payload.id)
      const contextModified =
        !!oldSlice && !isEqual(oldSlice.context, payload.context)
      const componentModified =
        !!oldSlice && !isEqual(oldSlice.componentPath, componentPath)

      return {
        type: `CREATE_SLICE`,
        plugin,
        payload: {
          componentChunkName: generateComponentChunkName(
            payload.component,
            `slice`

View on GitHub (pinned to 8b06340921)