transact-rs/sqlx · error · syn::Error

absolute paths will only work on the current machine

Error message

absolute paths will only work on the current machine

What it means

sqlx macros resolve `file`/query paths relative to the crate manifest directory so macros work across machines. An absolute path (one starting with `/` or a drive letter) is rejected at compile time because it would only resolve on the machine where it was written and break builds elsewhere (CI, teammates, Docker).

Solutions

1. Replace the absolute path with a path relative to the crate's Cargo.toml (manifest directory), e.g. `src/queries/users.sql`
2. Use the `CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR` convention mentally: the macro resolves relative paths from there
3. If generating code, emit relative paths instead of absolute ones

Example fix

// before
let q = query_file!("/home/alice/app/src/queries/get_user.sql");
// after
let q = query_file!("src/queries/get_user.sql");

// check before invoking the macro path convention
let p = std::path::Path::new(file_arg);
assert!(!p.is_absolute(), "use a path relative to the crate manifest dir");

When it happens

Trigger: Writing `query_file = "/home/me/project/src/queries/users.sql"` (or any absolute path) in `query!`, `query_file!`, `query_as!` etc., then compiling.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a path from an IDE's absolute-path copy; generated code that embeds absolute paths; moving code between machines or into CI where the absolute path is invalid anyway.

Related errors

• paths relative to the current file's directory are not…
• expected exactly 1 column, got
• failed to read query file at
• query file path cannot be represented as a string
• Cannot use both flatten and json

AI-assisted analysis of transact-rs/sqlx@03af8bcc57 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a1f9d3eeb39c8921. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sqlx-macros-core/src/common.rs:8

use proc_macro2::Span;
use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};

pub(crate) fn resolve_path(path: impl AsRef<Path>, err_span: Span) -> syn::Result<PathBuf> {
    let path = path.as_ref();

    if path.is_absolute() {
        return Err(syn::Error::new(
            err_span,
            "absolute paths will only work on the current machine",
        ));
    }

    // requires `proc_macro::SourceFile::path()` to be stable
    // https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/54725
    if path.is_relative()
        && path
            .parent()
            .is_none_or(|parent| parent.as_os_str().is_empty())
    {
        return Err(syn::Error::new(
            err_span,
            "paths relative to the current file's directory are not currently supported",
        ));
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 03af8bcc57)