windmill-labs/windmill · error

Flow ${flowPath} not found

Error message

Flow ${flowPath} not found

What it means

During a flow metadata/lock regeneration operation the CLI fetches the flow by path with `wmill.getFlowByPath`; if the API returns nothing (flow absent on the server), it throws this not-found error instead of proceeding to update.

Source

Thrown at cli/src/commands/flow/flow.ts:1233

  .option("--json", "Output as JSON (for piping to jq)")
  .action(history as any)
  .command("show-version", "Show a specific version of a flow")
  .arguments("<path:string> <version:string>")
  .option("--json", "Output as JSON (for piping to jq)")
  .action(showVersion as any)
  .command(
    "set-permissioned-as",
    "Set the on_behalf_of_email for a flow (requires admin or wm_deployers group)"
  )
  .arguments("<path:string> <email:string>")
  .action((async (opts: any, flowPath: string, email: string) => {
    const workspace = await resolveWorkspace(opts);
    await requireLogin(opts);
    const remote = await wmill.getFlowByPath({
      workspace: workspace.workspaceId,
      path: flowPath,
    });
    if (!remote) throw new Error(`Flow ${flowPath} not found`);
    await wmill.updateFlow({
      workspace: workspace.workspaceId,
      path: flowPath,
      requestBody: {
        ...remote,
        path: flowPath,
        on_behalf_of_email: email,
        // Derived server-side; see the script command for why.
        on_behalf_of: undefined,
        preserve_on_behalf_of: true,
        // Preserve any user draft at this path (see backend skip_draft_deletion).
        skip_draft_deletion: true,
      } as any,
    });
    log.info(colors.green(`Updated permissioned_as for flow ${flowPath} to ${email}`));
  }) as any);

export default command;

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

1. Verify the flow exists in the target workspace (web UI or `wmill flow list`)
2. Check the active workspace with `wmill workspace` and switch if needed
3. Push the flow first (`wmill flow push`) so it exists before regenerating locks
4. Correct any path typo, matching exact case

Example fix

// before
wmill flow generate-locks u/admin/etl_flow   # flow not on server
// after
wmill flow push u/admin/etl_flow && wmill flow generate-locks u/admin/etl_flow

const remote = await wmill.getFlowByPath({ workspace: ws.workspaceId, path: flowPath });
if (!remote) throw new Error(`Flow ${flowPath} missing on ${ws.workspaceId}; push it first`);

When it happens

Trigger: Running a flow command that updates/regenerates metadata against a path that does not exist remotely — e.g. pushing locks for a flow that was renamed or deleted on the server, or a path typo / wrong workspace.

Common situations: Deploying to a fresh workspace where the flow was never pushed; flow deleted by a teammate; active workspace switched with `wmill workspace switch`; case-sensitive path mismatch.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• App ${appPath} not found
• not a flow
• Cannot push flow ${remotePath}: missing inline script file(s
• Cannot push flow ${remotePath}: step(s) reference non-worksp
• job not found or parent flow not in queue: {}

AI-assisted analysis of windmill-labs/windmill@e474e8803c (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31fc655338d34110. Report an issue: GitHub.