t8y2/dbx · error · FileNotFoundError

{path}

Error message

{path}

What it means

required_path() reads a mandatory environment variable and resolves it to a Path. It raises ValueError when the variable is unset/empty, and FileNotFoundError when the path does not point to an existing file. This fails fast so benchmark configuration problems surface before any work is done.

Solutions

1. Export the required environment variable with a valid value before running (e.g. export NAME=/path/to/file)
2. Verify the variable name spelling matches what agent_compare.py expects
3. Check that the path exists and is a regular file (not a directory): ls -l "$NAME"
4. If the variable is optional now, switch the call site to env_default(name, fallback) instead of required_path

Example fix

// before
$ python agent_compare.py   # ValueError: HIVE_CONFIG is required
// after
$ export HIVE_CONFIG=./configs/agents.json
$ python agent_compare.py

import os
from pathlib import Path

def ensure_required_file_env(name: str) -> Path:
    value = os.getenv(name, "")
    if not value:
        raise SystemExit(f"Set {name} before running")
    path = Path(value).expanduser().resolve()
    if not path.is_file():
        raise SystemExit(f"{name}={value} is not an existing file")
    return path

config = ensure_required_file_env("HIVE_CONFIG")

def has_valid_path_env(name: str) -> bool:
    value = os.getenv(name, "")
    return bool(value) and Path(value).expanduser().is_file()

try:
    config = required_path("HIVE_CONFIG")
except ValueError:
    sys.exit("HIVE_CONFIG env var is required")
except FileNotFoundError as e:
    sys.exit(f"HIVE_CONFIG points to missing file: {e}")

When it happens

Trigger: os.getenv(name, "") returns "" because the env var (e.g. HIVE_AGENT_* path vars consumed by configured_candidates) is not exported or is exported empty; called from configured_candidates via main at startup.

Common situations: Running bench/agent_compare.py without sourcing an env file; a CI job missing a secret/env mapping; a typo in the variable name; pointing the var at a directory or nonexistent file instead of a regular file.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• BENCH_CANDIDATES selected no candidates
• is required
• must be a boolean
• must be a boolean
• must be positive

AI-assisted analysis of t8y2/dbx@c0390bff16 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1a10d5119c073be5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at agents/drivers/hive-go/bench/agent_compare.py:621

def percentile(values: list[float], fraction: float) -> float:
    if not values:
        return 0.0
    index = min(len(values) - 1, max(0, round((len(values) - 1) * fraction)))
    return values[index]


def elapsed_ms(started: float) -> float:
    return (time.perf_counter() - started) * 1000


def required_path(name: str) -> Path:
    value = os.getenv(name, "")
    if not value:
        raise ValueError(f"{name} is required")
    path = Path(value).expanduser().resolve()
    if not path.is_file():
        raise FileNotFoundError(path)
    return path


def env_default(name: str, fallback: str) -> str:
    return os.getenv(name, "") or fallback


def env_int(name: str, fallback: int) -> int:
    value = int(env_default(name, str(fallback)))
    if value < 1:
        raise ValueError(f"{name} must be positive")
    return value


def env_int_list(name: str, fallback: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    raw = os.getenv(name, "")
    values = fallback if not raw else [int(value.strip()) for value in raw.split(",")]
    if not values or any(value < 1 for value in values):

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