withastro/astro · error · AstroError

FileGlobNotSupported

FileGlobNotSupported

Error message

Glob patterns are not supported in the `file` loader. Use the `glob` loader instead.

What it means

Thrown synchronously by the file() loader constructor when the supplied fileName contains a '*' character. The file() loader reads a single concrete file; glob matching is the responsibility of the separate glob() loader, so the API refuses to silently misinterpret a glob pattern as a literal filename.

Source

Thrown at packages/astro/src/content/loaders/file.ts:27

type ParserOutput = Record<string, Record<string, unknown>> | Array<Record<string, unknown>>;

interface FileOptions {
	/**
	 * the parsing function to use for this data
	 * @default JSON.parse or yaml.load, depending on the extension of the file
	 * */
	parser?: (text: string) => Promise<ParserOutput> | ParserOutput;
}

/**
 * Loads entries from a JSON file. The file must contain an array of objects that contain unique `id` fields, or an object with string keys.
 * @param fileName The path to the JSON file to load, relative to the content directory.
 * @param options Additional options for the file loader
 */
export function file(fileName: string, options?: FileOptions): Loader {
	if (fileName.includes('*')) {
		throw new AstroError(FileGlobNotSupported);
	}

	let parse: ((text: string) => any) | null = null;

	const ext = fileName.split('.').at(-1);
	if (ext === 'json') {
		parse = JSON.parse;
	} else if (ext === 'yml' || ext === 'yaml') {
		parse = (text) =>
			yaml.load(text, {
				filename: fileName,
			});
	} else if (ext === 'toml') {
		parse = toml.parse;
	}
	if (options?.parser) parse = options.parser;

	if (parse === null) {

View on GitHub (pinned to d081033d5f)

Solutions

1. Switch to the glob() loader: import { glob } from 'astro/loaders' and use glob({ pattern: '...', base: ... }).
2. If you meant a single file, remove the '*' from the path and pass a concrete filename to file().

Example fix

// before
import { file } from 'astro/loaders';
defineCollection({ loader: file('data/*.json') });
// after
import { glob } from 'astro/loaders';
defineCollection({ loader: glob({ pattern: 'data/*.json' }) });

// Before calling file(), ensure the path is concrete
function assertConcreteFile(name: string) {
  if (name.includes('*')) throw new Error(`Use glob() for patterns; file() got ${name}`);
}

const isGlobPattern = (p: string) => /[*?!]/.test(p) || p.includes('/**') || p.includes('{');

When it happens

Trigger: Calling file('data/*.json') or file('**/config.yaml') — i.e. passing a glob pattern (containing *) as the fileName argument to the file() loader instead of using the glob() loader.

Common situations: Mistakenly importing { file } instead of { glob } from 'astro/loaders'; copying a glob pattern from elsewhere into a file() call; intending to load multiple files but picking the wrong loader.

Related errors

• FileParserNotFound
• Glob patterns cannot start with `/`. Set the `base` option t
• Live content collections must be defined in "src/live.config
• Collection loader for ${name} does not have a load method
• ContentLoaderReturnsInvalidId

AI-assisted analysis of withastro/astro@d081033d5f (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2428c30903e86dfb. Report an issue: GitHub.