oraios/serena · error · FileNotFoundError

Internal context '{from_internal}' not found in {SERENAS_OWN

Error message

Internal context '{from_internal}' not found in {SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR}. Available contexts: {SerenaAgentContext.list_registered_context_names()}

What it means

The context analogue of error 17: `serena context create --from <internal-context>` copies a bundled context YAML from SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR, and raises FileNotFoundError when the requested internal context yml is missing, listing all registered context names. It guards against creating a custom context from a nonexistent base.

Source

Thrown at src/serena/cli.py:629

        "--name",
        "-n",
        type=str,
        default=None,
        help="Name for the new context. If --from-internal is passed may be left empty to create a context of the same name, which will then override the internal context",
    )
    @click.option("--from-internal", "from_internal", type=str, default=None, help="Copy from an internal context.")
    def create(name: str, from_internal: str) -> None:
        if not (name or from_internal):
            raise click.UsageError("Provide at least one of --name or --from-internal.")
        ctx_name = name or from_internal
        dest = os.path.join(SerenaPaths().user_contexts_dir, f"{ctx_name}.yml")
        src = (
            os.path.join(SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR, f"{from_internal}.yml")
            if from_internal
            else os.path.join(SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR, "context.template.yml")
        )
        if not os.path.exists(src):
            raise FileNotFoundError(
                f"Internal context '{from_internal}' not found in {SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR}. Available contexts: {SerenaAgentContext.list_registered_context_names()}"
            )
        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(dest), exist_ok=True)
        shutil.copyfile(src, dest)
        click.echo(f"Created context '{ctx_name}' at {dest}")
        _open_in_editor(dest)

    @staticmethod
    @click.command("edit", help="Edit a custom context YAML file.", context_settings={"max_content_width": _MAX_CONTENT_WIDTH})
    @click.argument("context_name")
    def edit(context_name: str) -> None:
        path = os.path.join(SerenaPaths().user_contexts_dir, f"{context_name}.yml")
        if not os.path.exists(path):
            if context_name in SerenaAgentContext.list_registered_context_names(include_user_contexts=False):
                click.echo(
                    f"Context '{context_name}' is an internal context and cannot be edited directly. "
                    f"Use 'context create --from-internal {context_name}' to create a custom context that overrides it before editing."
                )

View on GitHub (pinned to 7fcbca7e62)

Solutions

  1. Use an exact name from the 'Available contexts' list in the error message (or list files in resources/config/contexts).
  2. Omit --from to base the new context on context.template.yml.
  3. Reinstall/upgrade Serena if bundled resource files are missing from the installation.

Example fix

// before
serena context create my-ctx --from agent-test
// after
serena context create my-ctx --from agent   # exact bundled name, or omit --from
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import os
from serena.constants import SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR
def internal_context_exists(name: str) -> bool:
    src = os.path.join(SERENAS_OWN_CONTEXT_YAMLS_DIR, f"{name}.yml")
    return os.path.exists(src)

Try / catch

try:
    create_context(name, from_internal=base)
except FileNotFoundError:
    log.error('Unknown base context %r; use one of %s or omit --from', base, SerenaAgentContext.list_registered_context_names())

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `serena context create <name> --from <internal>` where `<internal>.yml` does not exist in Serena's own resources/config/contexts directory (typo, renamed/removed context in a newer version), or the bundled context.template.yml itself is missing due to a broken install.

Common situations: Typos in built-in context names (e.g. 'desktop-app' vs actual name); following docs for an older Serena version whose contexts were renamed; partially installed package missing resource YAMLs.

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 oraios/serena@7fcbca7e62 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f64859cc06cd5ce7. Report an issue: GitHub.