Locate Missing Artifacts in Sandboxed Environments
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- A tool reports success but files are not found in their expected locations
- You receive errors like "file not found" after a tool claims to have created it
- You're working in a sandboxed/ephemeral environment where file paths may shift
- Directory structure mismatches occur between tool execution and validation
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Confirm the Failure
Before searching, verify the file is actually missing from the expected location:
bashls -la /expected/path/filename.ext # or test -f /expected/path/filename.ext && echo "Found" || echo "Missing"
Step 2: Identify Confirmed Root Directories
Determine which directories you know exist and where tools typically write:
bash# Common roots to check ls -la / ls -la $HOME ls -la /tmp ls -la /workspace ls -la .
Step 3: Search for the Artifact Using find
Use find from confirmed root directories to locate the missing file:
bash# Search by filename find /workspace -name "filename.ext" 2>/dev/null # Search by pattern if exact name varies find /workspace -name "*.ext" 2>/dev/null # Search broader paths if needed find / -name "filename.ext" 2>/dev/null | head -20
Step 4: Copy Artifact to Expected Location
Once located, explicitly copy the file to where it should be:
bash# Copy to expected location cp /found/path/filename.ext /expected/path/filename.ext # Or if you need to preserve the original cp -r /found/path/filename.ext /expected/path/ # Verify the copy succeeded ls -la /expected/path/filename.ext
Step 5: Validate Before Proceeding
Confirm the file is now accessible at the expected location:
bash# Test file exists and is readable test -f /expected/path/filename.ext && test -r /expected/path/filename.ext && echo "Ready" # Check file size to ensure it's not empty stat /expected/path/filename.ext
Common Patterns
Pattern: Output Written to Wrong Directory
bash# Tool wrote to current directory instead of specified output dir find . -name "*.docx" -type f cp ./report.docx ./output/report.docx
Pattern: Temporary Directory Used
bash# File ended up in /tmp or similar find /tmp -name "*.pdf" -mtime -1 cp /tmp/generated.pdf ./deliverables/
Pattern: Nested Subdirectory Created
bash# Tool created extra directory levels find /workspace -type f -name "*.xlsx" # May find: /workspace/output/2024/reports/file.xlsx cp /workspace/output/2024/reports/file.xlsx /workspace/deliverables/
Prevention Tips
- Always specify absolute paths when giving tools output locations
- Check the working directory before and after tool execution:
pwd - Verify immediately after a tool reports success before proceeding
- Use tool-specific confirmations when available (e.g., return paths)
Example: Complete Recovery Workflow
bash# 1. Tool reported creating report.docx but it's missing ls ./deliverables/report.docx # Output: ls: cannot access './deliverables/report.docx': No such file or directory # 2. Search for it find /workspace -name "report.docx" 2>/dev/null # Output: /workspace/tmp/generated/report.docx # 3. Copy to expected location mkdir -p ./deliverables cp /workspace/tmp/generated/report.docx ./deliverables/report.docx # 4. Validate ls -la ./deliverables/report.docx # Output: -rw-r--r-- 1 user user 45678 Jan 15 10:30 ./deliverables/report.docx # Success - file is now where it should be
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
find returns no results | Expand search to broader paths (/, /home, /root) |
| Multiple matches found | Check timestamps (-mtime -1) or file sizes to identify the correct one |
| Permission denied on copy | Use sudo if available, or check if file is in a read-only mount |
| File exists but is empty | The tool may have failed silently; regenerate the artifact |
