iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI · error · Core.CliException

not_found

not_found

Error message

No elements matched selector: {path}

What it means

Thrown (code not_found) by the selector branch of Remove when FilterSelector(path, ...) returns zero targets. This branch handles selector paths (not starting with '/') and content-filter paths; an empty match set is reported as not_found rather than a silent no-op, mirroring the Set dispatch so query/set/remove agree on selector behavior.

Source

Thrown at src/officecli/Handlers/Excel/ExcelHandler.Remove.cs:49

        // each match, mirroring ExcelHandler.Set's selector branch. Row removals
        // are TRUE shift-deletes (rows below shift up — see "row[N] — true shift
        // delete"), so multiple matched rows MUST be removed in DESCENDING row
        // order: deleting /Sheet/row[2] first renumbers the old row[4] to row[3]
        // and the next delete would hit the wrong row. Non-row targets carry
        // index 0 and keep a stable relative order.
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(path)
            && (!path.StartsWith("/") || Core.AttributeFilter.IsContentFilterPath(path)))
        {
            // Narrow via the shared engine (same as Set / query): pure-AND on the
            // legacy path, `or` selectors queried bracket-stripped then narrowed by
            // the boolean expression tree. The IsContentFilterPath arm routes a
            // `/`-scoped content filter (`/Sheet1/cell[value>5 or value<1]`) here
            // too, matching the Set dispatch — query, set and remove now agree on
            // every selector shape.
            var (targets, _) = Core.AttributeFilter.FilterSelector(path, Query, ResolveCellAttributeAlias);
            if (targets.Count == 0)
                // Empty selector result is not_found, not a crash — see Set.cs.
                throw new Core.CliException($"No elements matched selector: {path}") { Code = "not_found" };

            var ordered = targets.OrderByDescending(t => ExtractRowIndexForRemoval(t.Path)).ToList();
            string? lastWarning = null;
            foreach (var target in ordered)
            {
                var w = Remove(target.Path, properties);
                if (w != null) lastWarning = w;
            }
            var summary = $"{ordered.Count} element(s) removed by selector '{path}'";
            return lastWarning != null ? $"{summary}; {lastWarning}" : summary;
        }

        path = NormalizeExcelPath(path);
        path = ResolveSheetIndexInPath(path);
        var segments = path.TrimStart('/').Split('/', 2);
        var sheetName = segments[0];

        // Handle /namedrange[N] or /namedrange[Name] before sheet lookup

View on GitHub (pinned to 1ced45e900)

Solutions

1. Run the same selector as a get/query first to confirm it matches before calling remove.
2. Correct the selector (column name, value, operator) against the actual sheet contents.
3. Treat not_found as benign in your caller if an empty match is acceptable (catch code 'not_found').

Example fix

// before
remove row[col.mising=foo]   // typo: 'mising'
// after
get row[col.missing=foo]      // verify matches exist
remove row[col.missing=foo]

# dry-run the selector as a query first
matches = doc.query('row[col.missing=foo]')
if not matches:
    print('selector matches nothing — nothing to remove')
else:
    doc.remove('row[col.missing=foo]')

null

try:
    doc.remove('row[col.missing=foo]')
except officecli.OfficeCliError as e:
    if getattr(e, 'code', None) == 'not_found' or 'No elements matched' in str(e):
        pass  # empty match is benign for our use case
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: remove row[col.missing=foo] where no rows match; remove /Sheet1/cell[value>999] with no such cells; any selector that matches nothing.

Common situations: Filtering on a non-existent column/value; race where data changed between query and remove; case mismatch in values; selector typos.

Related errors

• invalid_selector
• invalid_value
• Sheet not found: {cmtSheetName}
• Sheet not found: {dvSheetName}
• Sheet not found: {afSheetName}

AI-assisted analysis of iOfficeAI/OfficeCLI@1ced45e900 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5bf4a5fe6fc5eb67. Report an issue: GitHub.