sveltejs/kit · error · Error

Expected to find metadata for remote file ${id}

Error message

Expected to find metadata for remote file ${id}

What it means

During build, the remote-functions plugin generates a virtual entry module (`\0sveltekit-remote:<hash>`) for each remote file and looks up the original module path from an internal map keyed by hash. If the hash has no recorded metadata, the plugin cannot emit the forwarding module and throws. It indicates the virtual id and the registry got out of sync.

Source

Thrown at packages/kit/src/exports/vite/plugins/remote.js:92

				id: prefixRegex('\0sveltekit-remote:')
			},
			handler(id) {
				return id;
			}
		},

		load: {
			filter: {
				id: prefixRegex('\0sveltekit-remote:')
			},
			handler(id) {
				// On-the-fly generated entry point for remote file just forwards the original module
				// We're not using manualChunks because it can cause problems with circular dependencies
				// (e.g. https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/issues/14679) and module ordering in general
				// (e.g. https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/issues/14590).
				const hash_id = id.slice('\0sveltekit-remote:'.length);
				const original = remote_original_by_hash.get(hash_id);
				if (!original) throw new Error(`Expected to find metadata for remote file ${id}`);
				return `import * as m from ${s(original)};\nexport default m;`;
			}
		},

		transform: {
			filter: {
				id: remote_module_pattern
			},
			async handler(code, id) {
				if (!is_remote_module(id)) return;

				const file = posixify(path.relative(root, id));
				const remote = {
					hash: hash(file),
					file
				};

				if (this.environment.config.consumer === 'server') {

View on GitHub (pinned to 03f1687fe6)

Solutions

1. Clear build caches (`node_modules/.vite`, dist output) and rebuild
2. Revert/reapply recent renames or deletions of remote (`*.remote.ts`) files so hashes regenerate consistently
3. Ensure all @sveltejs/kit and related packages are on the same version
4. Update the SvelteKit packages and rebuild to pick up registry fixes

// before build, ensure remote files are stable and caches are clean
import { rmSync } from 'node:fs';
rmSync('node_modules/.vite', { recursive: true, force: true });

try {
  await build();
} catch (err) {
  if (/Expected to find metadata for remote file/.test(err.message)) {
    rmSync('node_modules/.vite', { recursive: true, force: true });
    await build(); // retry with clean caches
  } else {
    throw err;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: A virtual `sveltekit-remote:` module id whose hash is absent from `remote_original_by_hash` — e.g. stale cached build artifacts referencing remote files that changed/removed, or an id generated by a different plugin pass.

Common situations: Stale Vite build cache after renaming/deleting `.remote.ts` files; mixing dev-generated ids into a production build; concurrent edits during build; plugin version mismatch between SvelteKit packages.

Related errors

• @sveltejs/enhanced-img requires @sveltejs/vite-plugin-svelte
• ${source.errors[0].message}
• ${message}. Since you're using @sveltejs/adapter-auto, Svelt
• adapter-bun requires running the SvelteKit build with Bun. U
• ${log.message ?? String(log)}

AI-assisted analysis of sveltejs/kit@03f1687fe6 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/772681cafd62104a. Report an issue: GitHub.