golang/go · error

import path cannot be absolute path

Error message

import path cannot be absolute path

What it means

Thrown by resolveImportPath when the import path is local (per islocalname) AND begins with '/'. Absolute filesystem paths are not permitted as import paths because they break portability and caching; the compiler refuses to canonicalize an absolute local path.

Source

Thrown at src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/import.go:149

	// path "math" to identify the standard math package.
	if path == "main" {
		return "", errors.New("cannot import \"main\"")
	}

	if base.Ctxt.Pkgpath == "" {
		panic("missing pkgpath")
	}
	if path == base.Ctxt.Pkgpath {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("import %q while compiling that package (import cycle)", path)
	}

	if mapped, ok := base.Flag.Cfg.ImportMap[path]; ok {
		path = mapped
	}

	if islocalname(path) {
		if path[0] == '/' {
			return "", errors.New("import path cannot be absolute path")
		}

		prefix := base.Flag.D
		if prefix == "" {
			// Questionable, but when -D isn't specified, historically we
			// resolve local import paths relative to the directory the
			// compiler's current directory, not the respective source
			// file's directory.
			prefix = base.Ctxt.Pathname
		}
		path = pathpkg.Join(prefix, path)

		if err := checkImportPath(path, true); err != nil {
			return "", err
		}
	}

	return path, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to b6b368adc5)

Solutions

1. Replace the absolute import path with the canonical module import path.
2. If resolving relative to a -D directory, use a relative path (./ or ../) instead of an absolute one.
3. Ensure import-map rewriting does not produce leading-slash paths.

Example fix

// before
import "/home/user/proj/pkg"
// after
import "example.com/myproject/pkg"

// Reject absolute import paths in source/tooling.
import "strings"
func isAbsoluteImport(p string) bool { return strings.HasPrefix(p, "/") }

When it happens

Trigger: A source file contains `import "/abs/path/to/pkg"`. islocalname returns true (starts with '/'), then the `path[0] == '/'` check rejects it.

Common situations: Generated code or hand edits that insert an absolute path import; porting GOPATH-style code that used absolute paths; an import map misconfiguration that produces an absolute path.

Related errors

• local imports disallowed
• file not found
• cannot import "main"
• import path is empty
• import path contains NUL

AI-assisted analysis of golang/go@b6b368adc5 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/60186ea0de0218c0. Report an issue: GitHub.