oraios/serena · error · FileNotFoundError

File or directory not found: {within_abs_path}

Error message

File or directory not found: {within_abs_path}

What it means

FileNotFoundError raised by SolidLanguageServer.request_directory_symbols (or similar overview API) when the within_relative_path parameter, joined onto repository_root_path, does not exist on disk. The library validates existence before querying the language server so callers get a clear filesystem error instead of an empty symbol result.

Source

Thrown at src/solidlsp/ls.py:2186

                            if "location" in node and "relativePath" in node["location"]:
                                path = Path(node["location"]["relativePath"])  # type: ignore
                                if path.is_absolute():
                                    try:
                                        path = path.relative_to(self.repository_root_path)
                                        node["location"]["relativePath"] = str(path)
                                    except Exception:
                                        pass
                            if "children" in node:
                                fix_relative_path(node["children"])

                    fix_relative_path(file_root_nodes)

            return result

        if within_relative_path:
            within_abs_path = os.path.join(self.repository_root_path, within_relative_path)
            if not os.path.exists(within_abs_path):
                raise FileNotFoundError(f"File or directory not found: {within_abs_path}")
            if self.is_ignored_path(within_relative_path):
                raise ValueError(f"Explicitly requested symbols in '{within_relative_path}' while the path is ignored")
            if os.path.isfile(within_abs_path):
                root_nodes = self.request_document_symbols(within_relative_path).root_symbols
                return root_nodes
            else:
                self.PathWorkspaceStatus.from_abs_resolved_path(Path(within_abs_path).resolve(), self).check_within_workspace_or_raise()
                return process_directory(within_abs_path)
        else:
            full_result = []
            for root in self.config.get_absolute_workspace_folders(self.repository_root_path):
                full_result.extend(process_directory(root))
            return full_result

    @staticmethod
    def _get_range_from_file_content(file_content: str) -> ls_types.Range:
        """
        Get the range for the given file.

View on GitHub (pinned to 7fcbca7e62)

Solutions

1. Verify the path exists relative to repository_root_path before calling: os.path.exists(os.path.join(ls.repository_root_path, rel_path)).
2. Convert absolute paths to repo-relative: os.path.relpath(abs_path, ls.repository_root_path) (and skip if it starts with '..').
3. Fix typos or update the path after refactors; confirm cwd/repository_root_path matches what you assume.
4. Ensure the file has been written/saved before requesting symbols for it.

Example fix

// before
ls.request_directory_symbols("src/modle.py")  # typo
// after
rel = "src/model.py"
assert os.path.exists(os.path.join(ls.repository_root_path, rel))
ls.request_directory_symbols(rel)

import os
abs_p = os.path.join(ls.repository_root_path, rel_path)
if not os.path.exists(abs_p):
    raise FileNotFoundError(f"{rel_path} does not exist under {ls.repository_root_path}")

def path_exists_under_repo(root: str, rel: str) -> bool:
    return os.path.exists(os.path.join(root, rel))

try:
    syms = ls.request_directory_symbols(rel_path)
except FileNotFoundError as e:
    logging.warning("path missing: %s", e)
    syms = []

When it happens

Trigger: Calling request_overview/request_directory_symbols-style APIs with within_relative_path pointing to a file or directory that does not exist under repository_root_path — typo in path, file deleted/moved, or using an absolute path where a repo-relative path is expected.

Common situations: Passing OS-absolute paths as relative paths, stale paths after a refactor or checkout of another branch, typos like 'src/mian.py', or paths outside the repository root.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• File or directory not found: {abs_path}
• Error: Path does not exist: {project_root}
• Error: Path is not a directory: {project_root}
• Specified a relative working directory ({cwd}), but the resu
• Relative path {relative_path} does not exist.

AI-assisted analysis of oraios/serena@7fcbca7e62 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aebb5900334a220c. Report an issue: GitHub.