zylon-ai/private-gpt · critical · FileNotFoundError

Settings file not found for profile

Error message

Settings file not found for profile '{profile}'. Searched in folders: {_settings_folders} with file name '{profile_file_name}'

What it means

Raised by load_settings_from_profile when none of the configured settings folders contain the profile's YAML file. PrivateGPT resolves profiles to file names ('default' -> settings.yaml, 'override' -> settings.override.yaml, other -> settings-<profile>.yaml) and searches every folder in PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER (comma-separated, defaulting to the project root). If no candidate file exists anywhere, the profile cannot be loaded and the app aborts during settings bootstrap.

Solutions

1. Create settings.yaml (copy settings.sample.yaml if present) in the project root or in a folder listed in the error message
2. Fix PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER so every comma-separated entry is an existing absolute path containing the profile file
3. Check the profile naming rule: PGPT_PROFILES=myprofile requires settings-myprofile.yaml exactly (hyphen, not underscore)
4. Verify the running working directory / container WORKDIR matches where the settings files were mounted
5. If running tests, ensure a settings-test.yaml exists or remove the fixture that injects the 'test' profile

Example fix

# before
export PGPT_PROFILES=prod
# FileNotFoundError: Settings file not found for profile 'prod' ...

# after: create the correctly named file in a searched folder
cp settings.yaml settings-prod.yaml
# or point the loader at the right folder
export PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER=/app/config

import os
from pathlib import Path

def resolve_profile_file(profile: str) -> Path:
    name = ("settings.yaml" if profile == "default"
            else "settings.override.yaml" if profile == "override"
            else f"settings-{profile}.yaml")
    folders = [f.strip() for f in os.environ.get("PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER", ".").split(",") if f.strip()]
    for folder in folders:
        p = Path(folder) / name
        if p.is_file():
            return p
    raise SystemExit(f"missing {name}; searched {folders}")

null

try:
    cfg = load_settings_from_profile(profile)
except FileNotFoundError as e:
    # log searched folders from the message, create file or fix PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER
    raise SystemExit(f"settings bootstrap failed: {e}") from e

When it happens

Trigger: Starting private-gpt (or importing its Settings) when settings.yaml is missing; setting PGPT_PROFILES=prod without creating settings-prod.yaml in any searched folder; setting PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER to a wrong or misspelled path; running from a working directory where the default settings folder does not contain settings.yaml; tests importing tests.fixtures which adds the 'test' profile without a settings-test.yaml.

Common situations: Fresh clone where the user renamed or deleted settings.yaml; Docker/CI image that does not copy settings files in; a typo in PGPT_SETTINGS_FOLDER or in the profile name passed via PGPT_PROFILES; deploying with a profile file named settings_prod.yaml (underscore) instead of settings-prod.yaml (hyphen).

Related errors

• Config file has no top-level mapping
• Default model ' ' not found in registered models
• Environment variable
• Default LLM model ' ' could not be initialized
• local_path is required for sqlite client

AI-assisted analysis of zylon-ai/private-gpt@4a030776a3 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/339bdf2ca75c03eb. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at private_gpt/settings/settings_loader.py:72

    else:
        profile_file_name = f"settings-{profile}.yaml"

    config: dict[str, Any] = {}
    found = False
    for settings_folder in _settings_folders:
        path = Path(settings_folder) / profile_file_name
        if not path.is_file():
            continue
        with Path(path).open("r") as f:
            raw = load_yaml_with_envvars(f)
        if not isinstance(raw, dict):
            raise TypeError(f"Config file has no top-level mapping: {path}")
        config = raw
        found = True
        break

    if not found:
        raise FileNotFoundError(
            f"Settings file not found for profile '{profile}'. "
            f"Searched in folders: {_settings_folders} with file name '{profile_file_name}'"
        )

    return config


@typing.no_type_check
def discover_models_from_environment(
    environ: dict[str, Any] = os.environ,
) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
    """Discover model configurations from environment variables.

    This function parses environment variables with the pattern:
    PGPT_MODELS_<MODEL_ID>_<PARAMETER>[__<NESTED_PARAM>]

    Examples:
        PGPT_MODELS_GPT4_API_KEY=sk-123 ->

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