locate-missing-artifacts

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:

ls -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:

# 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:

# 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:

# 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:

# 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