louislam/dockge · warning · ValidationError

Stack not found

Error message

Stack not found

What it means

Dockge throws this ValidationError from Stack.save() when UPDATING an existing stack (isAdd=false) but the stack's directory does not exist on disk. The update path assumes the folder is present to write compose.yaml into it.

Source

Thrown at backend/stack.ts:193

     * Save the stack to the disk
     * @param isAdd
     */
    async save(isAdd : boolean) {
        this.validate();

        let dir = this.path;

        // Check if the name is used if isAdd
        if (isAdd) {
            if (await fileExists(dir)) {
                throw new ValidationError("Stack name already exists");
            }

            // Create the stack folder
            await fsAsync.mkdir(dir);
        } else {
            if (!await fileExists(dir)) {
                throw new ValidationError("Stack not found");
            }
        }

        // Write or overwrite the compose.yaml
        fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, this._composeFileName), this.composeYAML);
        if (process.env.PUID && process.env.PGID) {
            const uid = Number(process.env.PUID);
            const gid = Number(process.env.PGID);
            fs.lchownSync(dir, uid, gid);
            fs.chownSync(path.join(dir, this._composeFileName), uid, gid);
        }
    }

    async deploy(socket : DockgeSocket) : Promise<number> {
        const terminalName = getComposeTerminalName(socket.endpoint, this.name);
        let exitCode = await Terminal.exec(this.server, socket, terminalName, "docker", this.getComposeOptions("up", "-d", "--remove-orphans"), this.path);
        if (exitCode !== 0) {
            throw new Error("Failed to deploy, please check the terminal output for more information.");

View on GitHub (pinned to f809ae192b)

Solutions

1. Refresh the stack list in the UI and re-open/recreate the stack (the folder is gone)
2. Check the stacks directory on the connected agent (default ./data/stacks/<name>) and restore the folder if it was deleted accidentally
3. Verify you are connected to the correct agent endpoint where the stack actually lives
4. If the stack should be created instead, re-add it with isAdd=true

Example fix

// before
await stack.save(socket, false); // may throw 'Stack not found'
// after
const dir = path.join(stacksDir, name);
if (!fs.existsSync(path.join(dir, 'compose.yaml'))) {
    throw new Error(`Stack '${name}' no longer exists; refresh and recreate it`);
}
await stack.save(socket, false);

import { fileExists } from "./util-common";
async function assertStackDirExists(dir: string) {
    if (!(await fileExists(dir))) {
        throw new Error(`Stack folder missing: ${dir} — refresh and recreate`);
    }
}
await assertStackDirExists(path.join(stacksDir, name));
await stack.save(socket, false);

function stackExists(list: Stack[], name: string): boolean {
    return list.some(s => s.name === name);
}

try {
    await stack.save(socket, false);
} catch (e) {
    if (e instanceof ValidationError && e.message === "Stack not found") {
        // refresh stack list / re-create stack with isAdd=true
    } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling saveStack with isAdd=false for a stack whose directory was deleted externally (manual rm, volume remount, another agent's cleanup) while the UI still had it open.

Common situations: Two browser tabs — one deletes the stack while the other saves; host disk/volume recreated in a container losing the stacks dir; editing a stack that was removed via docker compose down + folder rm; wrong agent/endpoint selected so the folder isn't there.

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

• Stack name already exists
• Name must be a string
• Stack name must be a string
• Stack name and service name must be strings
• Invalid stackName or serviceName

AI-assisted analysis of louislam/dockge@f809ae192b (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/163a1711cf2144fb. Report an issue: GitHub.