plandex-ai/plandex · error

error checking if %s is a subpath of %s: %s

Error message

error checking if %s is a subpath of %s: %s

What it means

IsIgnored checks whether a path outside the active-path map is ignored because it lives under a git-ignored directory. Each such check calls IsSubpathOf; if any of those calls errors, the failure is wrapped with both the file path and the candidate directory.

Source

Thrown at app/cli/fs/paths.go:457

		return false, nil
	}

	// If we want "absChild == absParent" to count as inside,
	// then !HasPrefix(rel, "..") is enough.
	// This means child == parent or child is deeper within parent.
	return true, nil
}

func IsIgnored(paths *types.ProjectPaths, path, baseDir string) (bool, string, error) {
	if !paths.AllPaths[path] {
		// if the path isn't in AllPaths, it either:
		// 1. doesn't exist (in which case we shouldn't be calling this function)
		// 2. is a subpath of a git ignored dir

		for dir := range paths.GitIgnoredDirs {
			subpath, err := IsSubpathOf(dir, path, baseDir)
			if err != nil {
				return false, "", fmt.Errorf("error checking if %s is a subpath of %s: %s", path, dir, err)
			}
			if subpath {
				return true, "git", nil
			}
		}
		return false, "", fmt.Errorf("path %s is not in the project", path)
	}

	if paths.ActivePaths[path] {
		return false, "", nil
	}

	if paths.PlandexIgnored != nil && paths.PlandexIgnored.MatchesPath(path) {
		return true, "plandex", nil
	}

	return true, "git", nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Verify the path is inside the current project and on the same volume as GitIgnoredDirs entries
2. Re-run `plandex load`/context load so ActivePaths is rebuilt with the current path
3. Inspect the wrapped err to find which dir failed relativization
4. Clean/normalize the path argument before loading it as context

Example fix

// before
MustLoadContext([]string{"D:\\outside\\file.go"})
// after
MustLoadContext([]string{"./internal/file.go"})

if _, err := os.Stat(path); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("path %s inaccessible before ignore check: %w", path, err)
}

ok, reason, err := IsIgnored(path, paths, baseDir)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "error getting relative path") {
        // treat as not ignored, or skip the offending path
        ok, reason = false, ""
    } else {
        return err
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: A path not present in paths.ActivePaths is checked against every dir in paths.GitIgnoredDirs, and IsSubpathOf returns an error (e.g. filepath.Rel failure, different volumes, invalid path) for one of them.

Common situations: Loading context for a path containing characters or structure that break path relativization; paths recorded before a drive/volume change; stale GitIgnoredDirs entries pointing at another volume.

Related errors

• path %s is not in the project
• error getting project paths: %v
• error loading accounts: %v
• error setting auth: %v
• error writing auth: %v

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1b7564a5f4f0e0d8. Report an issue: GitHub.