windmill-labs/windmill · error · Error

Resource at path ${path} does not exist and no type was prov

Error message

Resource at path ${path} does not exist and no type was provided to initialize it

What it means

setResource() updates an existing resource's value, but if no resource exists at the target path it can only CREATE one when you pass initializeToTypeIfNotExist (a resource type name), since Windmill resources require a type at creation. When the resource is missing and no type was provided, the library throws instead of guessing a type.

Source

Thrown at typescript-client/client.ts:625

  const mockedApi = await getMockedApi();
  if (mockedApi) {
    mockedApi.resources[path] = value;
    return;
  }
  const workspace = getWorkspace();
  if (await ResourceService.existsResource({ workspace, path })) {
    await ResourceService.updateResourceValue({
      workspace,
      path,
      requestBody: { value },
    });
  } else if (initializeToTypeIfNotExist) {
    await ResourceService.createResource({
      workspace,
      requestBody: { path, value, resource_type: initializeToTypeIfNotExist },
    });
  } else {
    throw Error(
      `Resource at path ${path} does not exist and no type was provided to initialize it`
    );
  }
}

/**
 * Set the state
 * @param state state to set
 * @deprecated use setState instead
 */
export async function setInternalState(state: any): Promise<void> {
  await setResource(state, undefined, "state");
}

/**
 * Set the state
 * @param state state to set
 * @param path Optional state resource path override. Defaults to `getStatePath()`.

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

Create the resource beforehand (UI, `wmill resource create`, or VariableService/ResourceService) at the exact path.
Pass a resource type as the third argument: `setResource(value, path, object_type_name)` so it gets created if missing.
Verify the path spelling and that you are targeting the intended workspace.
Check your token's permissions can see the resource (existsResource returning false also triggers this).

Example fix

// before
await setResource({ items: [] }, 'u/admin/results');
// after
await setResource({ items: [] }, 'u/admin/results', 'object');

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import { ResourceService } from './sdk';
const exists = await ResourceService.existsResource({ workspace, path });
if (!exists && !resourceType) {
  throw new Error(`Resource ${path} missing; pass initializeToTypeIfNotExist before calling setResource`);
}

Type guard

function isSettableResourceTarget(
  target: { path: string; type?: string }
): target is { path: string; type: string } {
  return typeof target.path === 'string' && target.path.length > 0 && typeof target.type === 'string';
}

Try / catch

try {
  await setResource(value, path);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes('does not exist')) {
    await setResource(value, path, 'object'); // retry with creation type
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

Prevention

Always pass the resource type as setResource's third argument when the path may not exist yet.
Provision resources via wmill CLI / IaC before deploying scripts that write to them.
Double-check resource paths and workspace when you get this error; typos silently read as 'missing'.
Use setState() for state persistence — it auto-initializes with type 'state'.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling setResource(value, path) where no resource exists at `path` and no third argument is given. Notably setState() always passes type 'state', so this is hit by direct setResource calls (or setInternalState misuse) targeting a non-existent path — typically a typo'd path, wrong workspace, or a path the token cannot see (existsResource returns false).

Common situations: Referring to a resource that was deleted or renamed; running in a different workspace than where the resource lives; forgetting the `initializeToTypeIfNotExist` argument when writing results to a fresh path; permission scope hiding the resource so existsResource is false.

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

AI-assisted analysis of windmill-labs/windmill@e474e8803c (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/45c6ac55ad7bdb0f. Report an issue: GitHub.