twpayne/chezmoi · error

%s: not found

Error message

%s: not found

What it means

When translating a target's actual state into a source-state entry (during chezmoi add), an ActualStateAbsent means the destination path does not exist on the filesystem, so there is nothing to add and chezmoi errors '<path>: not found'.

Source

Thrown at internal/chezmoi/sourcestate.go:3000

			Have: s.version,
			Need: *version,
		}
	}
	return nil
}

// sourceStateEntry returns a new SourceStateEntry based on actualStateEntry.
func (s *SourceState) sourceStateEntry(
	actualStateEntry ActualStateEntry,
	destAbsPath AbsPath,
	fileInfo fs.FileInfo,
	parentSourceRelPath SourceRelPath,
	targetRelPath RelPath,
	options *AddOptions,
) (SourceStateEntry, error) {
	switch actualStateEntry := actualStateEntry.(type) {
	case *ActualStateAbsent:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s: not found", destAbsPath)
	case *ActualStateDir:
		return s.newSourceStateDirEntry(actualStateEntry, fileInfo, parentSourceRelPath, targetRelPath, options), nil
	case *ActualStateFile:
		return s.newSourceStateFileEntryFromFile(actualStateEntry, fileInfo, parentSourceRelPath, options)
	case *ActualStateSymlink:
		return s.newSourceStateFileEntryFromSymlink(actualStateEntry, fileInfo, parentSourceRelPath, options)
	default:
		panic(fmt.Sprintf("%T: unsupported type", actualStateEntry))
	}
}

func (e *External) IsExternal() bool {
	return true
}

func (e *External) OriginString() string {
	urlStr := cmp.Or(append([]string{e.URL}, e.URLs...)...)
	return urlStr + " defined in " + e.sourceAbsPath.String()

View on GitHub (pinned to f901167e46)

Solutions

1. Verify the path exists on the target system (ls the exact path chezmoi resolves)
2. Recreate the file/directory before running chezmoi add
3. Check spelling and that you are referencing the target path, not the source path

Example fix

// before
chezmoi add ~/.zshrc   # file was deleted
// after
touch ~/.zshrc  # or restore it, then
chezmoi add ~/.zshrc

// check the target exists before `chezmoi add`
path := os.ExpandEnv("$HOME/.zshrc")
if _, err := os.Lstat(path); err != nil {
  return fmt.Errorf("cannot add %s: %w", path, err)
}

func targetExists(absPath string) bool {
  _, err := os.Lstat(absPath)
  return err == nil
}

if err := runAdd(targets); err != nil {
  if strings.Contains(err.Error(), ": not found") {
    return fmt.Errorf("target missing on filesystem; create it or fix the path: %w", err)
  }
  return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running chezmoi add with a target path that does not exist in the destination (typo, deleted file, or path relative to the wrong base directory).

Common situations: Adding a file after deleting or renaming it; typo in path passed to `chezmoi add`; assuming ~-relative resolution differs from actual target path; adding something managed only by a script.

Understand the failure class

Background: "File not found" and ENOENT errors: why libraries can't find a file that should exist — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• %s: not a directory
• %s: not a directory
• open %s: failed to acquire lock: %w
• %s: cannot add chezmoi's config file to chezmoi, use a confi
• %s: cannot add chezmoi file to chezmoi (%s is protected)

AI-assisted analysis of twpayne/chezmoi@f901167e46 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/53faeb17dbd98600. Report an issue: GitHub.