nektos/act · error

( )

Error message

%s (%s): %w

What it means

Inside the tar-streaming walker (writeZipArchive/applyPrefixes area of pkg/runner/action_cache.go), when an include-prefix entry names a path that is neither a subtree nor a file, it calls t.File(destPath) and wraps the resulting error as "destPath (origin): err". This is effectively 'path not found in the action repo tree': the composite/docker action's metadata (e.g. an action repo subpath or entrypoint path) references a file that does not exist at the fetched sha.

Solutions

1. Inspect the destPath in the error and confirm the file exists in the repo at the pinned ref (browse github.com/{owner}/{repo}/tree/{ref}).
2. Pin to a tag/commit where the path existed, or update the path in your workflow's 'uses:' / the action's entrypoint.
3. If you maintain the action, ensure entrypoint/pre-entrypoint paths are relative to action.yml and committed.
4. Clear cache after path changes upstream: rm -rf ~/.cache/act.

Example fix

# before (workflow)
uses: org/repo/.github/actions/deploy/subdir@v1  # 'subdir' lacks action files

# after
uses: org/repo/.github/actions/deploy@v1

curl -fsS "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/{owner}/{repo}/{ref}/<destPath-from-error>" >/dev/null && echo 'path exists' || echo 'path missing at ref'

When it happens

Trigger: includePrefix points into a directory that exists but the joined destPath misses a file: action.yml 'entrypoint:' or pre-entrypoint script path wrong, or the 'uses: owner/repo/subdir@ref' subdir layout changed at that ref so the requested file is absent.

Common situations: Upstream action reorganized files between tags (entrypoint moved from Dockerfile-adjacent script to another dir); typo'd subpath in 'uses:'; ref pointing to a commit before a file was added.

Related errors

• failed to identify reference (tag/branch) for the…
• GoGitActionCache failed to create remote
• GoGitActionCache failed to fetch
• GoGitActionCache failed to get commit
• GoGitActionCache failed to list files

AI-assisted analysis of nektos/act@4f41128141 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0fe0696b6d0c37c7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pkg/runner/action_cache.go:206

	}
	if fmode&fs.ModeSymlink == fs.ModeSymlink {
		content, err := f.Contents()
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

		destPath := path.Join(path.Dir(f.Name), content)

		subtree, err := t.Tree(destPath)
		if err == nil {
			return subtree.Files().ForEach(func(ft *object.File) error {
				return actionCacheCopyFileOrDir(ctx, cleanIncludePrefix, t, tw, origin+strings.TrimPrefix(ft.Name, f.Name), f)
			})
		}

		f, err := t.File(destPath)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("%s (%s): %w", destPath, origin, err)
		}
		return actionCacheCopyFileOrDir(ctx, cleanIncludePrefix, t, tw, origin, f)
	}
	header, err := tar.FileInfoHeader(&GitFileInfo{
		name: name,
		mode: fmode,
		size: f.Size,
	}, "")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	err = tw.WriteHeader(header)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	reader, err := f.Reader()
	if err != nil {
		return err

View on GitHub (pinned to 4f41128141)