lima-vm/lima · error

no template available

Error message

no template available

What it means

renderTemplate refuses to run when TemplateFileBasedManager.template is empty; RegisterToStartAtLogin surfaces it (wrapped as "failed to render the autostart entry..."). It is a programming/configuration error: an autostart manager was built without the OS-specific unit/plist template.

Source

Thrown at pkg/autostart/managers.go:117

	if registered, err := t.IsRegistered(ctx, inst); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to check if the autostart entry for instance %#q is registered: %w", inst.Name, err)
	} else if !registered {
		return nil
	}
	if t.enabler != nil {
		if err := t.enabler(ctx, false, inst.Name); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to disable the autostart entry for instance %#q: %w", inst.Name, err)
		}
	}
	if err := os.Remove(t.filePath(inst.Name)); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to remove the autostart entry for instance %#q: %w", inst.Name, err)
	}
	return nil
}

func (t *TemplateFileBasedManager) renderTemplate(instName, workDir string, getExecutable func() (string, error)) ([]byte, error) {
	if t.template == "" {
		return nil, errors.New("no template available")
	}
	selfExeAbs, err := getExecutable()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	data := map[string]string{
		"Binary":   selfExeAbs,
		"Instance": instName,
		"WorkDir":  workDir,
	}
	maps.Copy(data, t.extraTemplateVars)
	return textutil.ExecuteTemplate(t.template, data)
}

func (t *TemplateFileBasedManager) AutoStartedIdentifier() string {
	if t.autoStartedIdentifier != nil {
		return t.autoStartedIdentifier()
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Use the provided OS-specific constructors (NewSystemd/NewLaunchd/NewWindowsStartup) which populate the template
2. If building a custom manager, set template to a valid systemd unit file / launchd plist template containing {{.Binary}}, {{.Instance}}, {{.WorkDir}} placeholders

Example fix

// before
mgr := &autostart.TemplateFileBasedManager{enabler: enable}
// after
mgr := autostart.NewSystemd() // template, filePath, enabler all set

// ensure the manager was built through a constructor with a template
if mgr == nil || !hasTemplate(mgr) {
    mgr = autostart.NewSystemd() // or NewLaunchd / NewWindowsStartup
}

func hasTemplate(m autostart.AutoStartManager) bool {
    tfbm, ok := m.(*autostart.TemplateFileBasedManager)
    return ok && tfbm != nil
}

if err := mgr.RegisterToStartAtLogin(ctx, inst); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no template available") {
        return errors.New("autostart manager misconfigured: use NewSystemd/NewLaunchd constructor")
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: RegisterToStartAtLogin is called on a TemplateFileBasedManager whose template field was never set — i.e. a manager constructed manually with only some fields, or a custom manager missing its template string.

Common situations: Embedding/using the internal autostart package in a fork or custom build and forgetting to set the systemd unit / launchd plist / Windows startup template; constructing TemplateFileBasedManager directly in tests.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required config value" errors: why libraries refuse to start when a configuration key is empty, unset, or blank — this error's family across 48 libraries.

Related errors

• no RequestStart function available
• no RequestStop function available
• failed to register instance %#q to start at login: %w
• failed to unregister instance %#q from start at login: %w
• failed to check if the autostart entry for instance %#q is r

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/89299b1b33aa5399. Report an issue: GitHub.