stride3d/stride · error · ArgumentException

Invalid relative path. Expecting an absolute project path

Error message

Invalid relative path. Expecting an absolute project path

What it means

AddExistingProject requires an absolute path to the project file. Passing a relative UFile throws ArgumentException, because subsequent File.Exists and package loading logic depend on a fully qualified location.

Solutions

1. Resolve to an absolute path with Path.GetFullPath (combined with your base directory) before calling
2. Check projectPath.IsAbsolute before the call
3. Build the path from an absolute root directory constant

Example fix

// before
session.AddExistingProject("src/MyGame.csproj", logger);
// after
var abs = new UFile(Path.GetFullPath("src/MyGame.csproj"));
session.AddExistingProject(abs, logger);

var abs = new UFile(Path.GetFullPath(projectPath));
if (!abs.IsAbsolute) throw new ArgumentException("Project path must be absolute", nameof(projectPath));

bool IsAbsoluteProjectPath(UFile p) => p != null && p.IsAbsolute;

try { session.AddExistingProject(path, logger); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) { logger.Error(ex, "Project path must be absolute"); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling session.AddExistingProject("MyGame/MyGame.csproj", logger) with a relative path, or a path built from the current directory implicitly.

Common situations: Taking a project path from command-line args or config without resolving it, hard-coded relative paths that worked by accident in another working directory.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Expecting relative path
• filePath must be relative
• The value must be a non-null string when type is…
• The value must be null when type is ElementType.Target.
• The value must be an Index when type is ElementType.Index.

AI-assisted analysis of stride3d/stride@96fad776d2 (2026-09-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/67f367262acf3b85. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sources/assets/Stride.Core.Assets/PackageSession.cs:701

                return sourceTracker ??= new AssetSourceTracker(this);
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Adds an existing package to the current session.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="projectPath">The project or package path.</param>
    /// <param name="logger">The session result.</param>
    /// <param name="loadParametersArg">The load parameters argument.</param>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">packagePath</exception>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">Invalid relative path. Expecting an absolute package path;packagePath</exception>
    /// <exception cref="FileNotFoundException">Unable to find package</exception>
    public PackageContainer AddExistingProject(UFile projectPath, ILogger logger, PackageLoadParameters? loadParametersArg = null)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(projectPath);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(logger);
        if (!projectPath.IsAbsolute) throw new ArgumentException("Invalid relative path. Expecting an absolute project path", nameof(projectPath));
        if (!File.Exists(projectPath)) throw new FileNotFoundException("Unable to find project", projectPath);

        var loadParameters = loadParametersArg ?? PackageLoadParameters.Default();

        Package package;
        PackageContainer project;
        try
        {
            // Enable reference analysis caching during loading
            AssetReferenceAnalysis.EnableCaching = true;

            project = LoadProject(logger, projectPath.ToOSPath(), loadParametersArg);
            Projects.Add(project);

            package = project.Package;

            // Load all missing references/dependencies
            LoadMissingDependencies(logger, loadParameters);

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