pbakaus/impeccable · warning

embed-prompt: no embedded prompt found

Error message

embed-prompt: no embedded prompt found

What it means

In read mode (`embed-prompt --read` or similar), the CLI attempts to extract an embedded generation prompt from the image (PNG tEXt chunk or JPEG COM segment). If neither container carries the keyword-marked prompt, it prints this and exits with code 2.

Source

Thrown at crates/context/src/embed_prompt.rs:253

    }

    let Some(file) = file.filter(|f| exists(&abs(f))) else {
        io.err("embed-prompt: image file required\n");
        return 1;
    };
    let file_abs = abs(&file);
    let buf = std::fs::read(&file_abs).unwrap_or_default();
    let ty = image_type(&buf);
    let png = ty == Some(ImageType::Png);
    let jpeg = ty == Some(ImageType::Jpeg);
    let sidecar = format!("{}.json", file);
    let sidecar_abs = format!("{}.json", file_abs);

    if read_mode {
        let prompt = read_prompt(&file_abs, &buf);
        match prompt {
            None => {
                io.err("embed-prompt: no embedded prompt found\n");
                2
            }
            Some(p) => {
                io.out(&format!("{}\n", p));
                0
            }
        }
    } else {
        let prompt = match arg_of("--prompt") {
            Some(p) => Some(p),
            None => match arg_of("--prompt-file") {
                Some(pf) if !pf.is_empty() => match std::fs::read(abs(&pf)) {
                    Ok(b) => Some(String::from_utf8_lossy(&b).into_owned()),
                    Err(e) => {
                        io.err(&format!("Error: {}\n", crate::util::node_read_error(&pf, &e)));
                        return 1;
                    }
                },

View on GitHub (pinned to 2bc2879276)

Solutions

1. Regenerate or re-embed the prompt: run `embed-prompt --image <file> --prompt <p>` in write mode first.
2. Check the image did not pass through an optimizer that strips PNG tEXt or JPEG COM segments.
3. Keep the original engine-output image (with embedded prompt) alongside optimized variants.

// nothing static to check; presence of embedded metadata is only knowable after read

const p = readEmbeddedPrompt(img); if (p == null) { console.warn('no embedded prompt; using sidecar fallback'); p = readSidecar(img); }

When it happens

Trigger: Running read mode on an image that was never processed by embed-prompt, an image whose embedded prompt was stripped by an optimizer/re-encoder, or a non-PNG/non-JPEG file.

Common situations: Images passed through image optimizers (e.g. squash/recompress tools) that drop ancillary chunks, screenshots of generated images, or hand-authored assets that never had a prompt embedded.

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

• comp-diff: cannot read comp {comp_path}: {e}
• comp-diff: cannot read build {build_path}: {e}
• comp-spec: cannot read {comp_file}: {e}
• comp-spec: {e}
• comp-spec: cannot read {comp_path}: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of pbakaus/impeccable@2bc2879276 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7095b7f1dc025d5d. Report an issue: GitHub.