remotion-dev/remotion · error

A folder cannot be moved inside itself

Error message

A folder cannot be moved inside itself

What it means

When moving a folder, the codemod guards against placing a folder into its own subtree, which would create an invalid/cyclic structure. If the computed destination parent path equals the source folder path or is nested under it (destinationParentFolderName starts with 'sourceFolderPath/'), this error is thrown instead of corrupting the AST.

Source

Thrown at packages/studio-codemods/src/recast-mods.ts:695

			: null;
	const destinationParentFolderName =
		transformation.destination.type === 'root'
			? null
			: transformation.destination.type === 'folder'
				? [
						transformation.destination.parentName,
						transformation.destination.folderName,
					]
						.filter(Boolean)
						.join('/')
				: (target as unknown as LocatedItem).parentFolderName;
	if (
		sourceFolderPath !== null &&
		destinationParentFolderName !== null &&
		(destinationParentFolderName === sourceFolderPath ||
			destinationParentFolderName.startsWith(`${sourceFolderPath}/`))
	) {
		throw new Error('A folder cannot be moved inside itself');
	}

	if (transformation.source.type === 'folder') {
		const sourceFolderName = transformation.source.folderName;
		if (
			folders.some(
				(folder) =>
					folder.node !== sourceItem.node &&
					folder.name === sourceFolderName &&
					folder.parentFolderName === destinationParentFolderName,
			)
		) {
			throw new Error(
				`A folder named "${sourceFolderName}" already exists in the destination`,
			);
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a6a7485a9a)

Solutions

1. Verify the destination path is not the source folder or nested inside it before calling applyCodemod
2. Treat a drop of a folder onto its own subtree as a no-op in the caller
3. Adjust the destination to a sibling location outside the source subtree

Example fix

// before
move({source: {type: 'folder', parentName: null, folderName: 'A'}, destination: {type: 'folder', parentName: 'A', folderName: 'Sub'}});
// after
move({source: {type: 'folder', parentName: null, folderName: 'A'}, destination: {type: 'folder', parentName: null, folderName: 'B'}}); // outside A

const srcPath = [src.parentName, src.folderName].filter(Boolean).join('/');
const dstPath = [dest.parentName, dest.folderName].filter(Boolean).join('/');
if (srcPath && dstPath && (dstPath === srcPath || dstPath.startsWith(srcPath + '/'))) return; // no-op, guard before calling

const movesIntoItself = (srcPath: string | null, dstPath: string | null) => srcPath !== null && dstPath !== null && (dstPath === srcPath || dstPath.startsWith(`${srcPath}/`));

try {
  await applyCodemod({transformation});
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e) === 'Error: A folder cannot be moved inside itself') return {changesMade: []}; // treat as intentional no-op
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling applyCodemod with source {type: 'folder', parentName, folderName} and a destination ('folder' or a before/after target whose parent resolves to that same folder path or any descendant of it), e.g. moving folder 'A' into 'A/Sub' or reordering relative to an item inside 'A'.

Common situations: Dragging a folder onto one of its own children or itself in the studio; scripted transformations computing destination paths programmatically without cycle checks.

Related errors

• You must pass a name to a <Folder />.
• The "name" you pass into <Folder /> must be a string. Got: $
• Folder name can only contain a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and -. You passed
• Could not find folder "${folderPath}"
• A folder named "${sourceFolderName}" already exists in the d

AI-assisted analysis of remotion-dev/remotion@a6a7485a9a (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/beeb5b48704aacad. Report an issue: GitHub.