What causes "cannot find resource: ${path}" in karatelabs/karate?

Verify the path in the error exists relative to the configured template root (check spelling and case)

karatelabs/karate · error · ResourceNotFoundException

cannot find resource

Error message

cannot find resource: ${path}

What it means

HtmlTemplateResolver resolves template paths to Resources and throws ResourceNotFoundException (message 'cannot find resource: <path>') when the resolved resource is null or does not exist. This happens while loading a top-level template or while resolving an included/called fragment relative to the owner template.

Solutions

Verify the path in the error exists relative to the configured template root (check spelling and case)
Confirm the resource is on the classpath / copied into target output for jar deployments
Fix the resolver/root configuration (WorkingDir, resource root) to match where templates live
Check the calling fragment's relative path — includes resolve against the owner template's location

Example fix

// before
kaThymeleaf.render("pages/dashborad.html", model); // typo
// after
kaThymeleaf.render("pages/dashboard.html", model);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

Resource r = resolver.resolve(path, caller); if (r == null || !r.exists()) throw new IllegalStateException("template missing: " + path);

Try / catch

try { render(path, model); } catch (ResourceNotFoundException e) { log.error("template not found: {}", e.getMessage()); throw e; }

Prevention

Verify template paths relative to the configured root (mind case sensitivity)
Ensure templates are copied into build output / packaged in the jar
Resolve includes relative to the calling template's directory
Add a startup smoke test that renders key templates

When it happens

Trigger: Rendering a template whose file path does not resolve under the configured root; an include/insert referencing a fragment file that is missing or misnamed; wrong working directory or classpath root so the resource cannot be located.

Common situations: Typo in template or fragment path; template file not copied into the build output/jar; configured template root points at the wrong directory; case-sensitive filesystems vs wrong-cased paths in CI/Linux.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of karatelabs/karate@a22eb90246 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cd7b2efb4b5157df. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at karate-core/src/main/java/io/karatelabs/markup/HtmlTemplateResolver.java:89

            prevCaller = null;
            HtmlStringTemplateResource templateResource = new HtmlStringTemplateResource(content, resolver);
            return new TemplateResolution(templateResource, TemplateMode.HTML, NonCacheableCacheEntryValidity.INSTANCE);
        } else { // html file name
            if (!content.endsWith(".html")) {
                content = content + ".html";
            }
            Resource caller;
            // Only resolve ownerTemplate as caller if it's a valid template name (not HTML content or markers)
            if (ownerTemplate != null && !ownerTemplate.startsWith(Resource.THIS_COLON) && prevCaller != null) {
                // ownerTemplate needs .html extension too
                String ownerPath = ownerTemplate.endsWith(".html") ? ownerTemplate : ownerTemplate + ".html";
                caller = resolver.resolve(ownerPath, null);
            } else {
                caller = prevCaller;
            }
            Resource resource = resolver.resolve(content, caller);
            if (resource == null || !resource.exists()) {
                throw new ResourceNotFoundException(content);
            }
            prevCaller = resource;
            HtmlTemplateResource templateResource = new HtmlTemplateResource(ownerTemplate, resource);
            return new TemplateResolution(templateResource, TemplateMode.HTML,
                    devMode ? NonCacheableCacheEntryValidity.INSTANCE : AlwaysValidCacheEntryValidity.INSTANCE);
        }
    }

}

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