spacedriveapp/spacedrive · error · anyhow::Error

Path does not exist: {}

Error message

Path does not exist: {}

What it means

Thrown by the interactive location-add flow after the user types a local path and std::path::PathBuf::exists() returns false. The wizard validates existence before creating SdPath::local(path_buf), because an indexed location must point at a real directory on disk.

Source

Thrown at apps/cli/src/domains/location/mod.rs:155

	use sd_core::domain::addressing::SdPath;
	use sd_core::ops::indexing::IndexMode;

	println!("\n=== Add New Location ===\n");

	// 1. Location type
	let location_type = select(
		"What type of location would you like to add?",
		&["Local filesystem".to_string(), "Cloud storage".to_string()],
	)?;

	let sd_path = if location_type == 0 {
		// Local filesystem
		let path_str = text("Enter the local path", false)?.unwrap();
		let path_buf = std::path::PathBuf::from(path_str);

		// Validate that path exists
		if !path_buf.exists() {
			anyhow::bail!("Path does not exist: {}", path_buf.display());
		}
		if !path_buf.is_dir() {
			anyhow::bail!("Path must be a directory: {}", path_buf.display());
		}

		SdPath::local(path_buf)
	} else {
		// Cloud storage
		use sd_core::ops::volumes::list::VolumeListQueryInput;

		let volumes: sd_core::ops::volumes::list::VolumeListOutput = execute_query!(
			ctx,
			VolumeListQueryInput {
				filter: sd_core::ops::volumes::VolumeFilter::TrackedOnly
			}
		);

		if volumes.volumes.is_empty() {

View on GitHub (pinned to 6dfeccf211)

Solutions

1. Use the absolute path with the tilde already expanded, e.g. /home/user/photos
2. Create the directory first (mkdir -p) if it should exist
3. Check the drive/mount is actually mounted on the machine running the daemon
4. Verify with ls <path> in another terminal before re-entering it

Example fix

// before: tilde is checked literally and fails
let path_str = text("Enter the local path", false)?.unwrap();
let path_buf = std::path::PathBuf::from(path_str);

// after: expand ~ before validating
let path_str = text("Enter the local path", false)?.unwrap();
let expanded = shellexpand::tilde(&path_str).into_owned();
let path_buf = std::path::PathBuf::from(expanded);

let expanded = shellexpand::tilde(&path_str).into_owned();
let path_buf = std::path::PathBuf::from(&expanded);
if !path_buf.try_exists().unwrap_or(false) {
    eprintln!("'{}' does not exist (tilde is NOT expanded automatically)", expanded);
    return Ok(());
}

fn is_existing_dir(p: &str) -> bool {
    let expanded = shellexpand::tilde(p).into_owned();
    std::path::Path::new(&expanded).is_dir()
}

When it happens

Trigger: Typing a path with a typo, a not-yet-created directory, or an unexpanded tilde ('~/photos' is checked literally, shells do not expand it for prompts) in the 'Enter the local path' prompt.

Common situations: Tilde or environment variables ($HOME) pasted into the prompt; directory on an unmounted external drive or network mount; the directory lives on the daemon's machine but the path was written for a different machine.

Related errors

• Path must be a directory: {}
• Operation aborted by user
• No paired devices found. Pair a device first with: sd networ
• No libraries found on remote device. Use 'Share my library'
• Path is required in non-interactive mode

AI-assisted analysis of spacedriveapp/spacedrive@6dfeccf211 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6fe7a9a785033a1d. Report an issue: GitHub.