GitHub Actions actions/upload-artifact "No files were found" (v4)

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

actions/upload-artifact@v4 resolves the path input as a glob relative to the workspace. When the glob matches no files - wrong directory, a build that did not run, or a typo - v4 errors (or warns) that nothing was found.

What this error means

An upload-artifact step reports that no files were found at the provided path, and downstream jobs have no artifact to download.

Error: No files were found with the provided path: dist/**. No artifacts will be uploaded.

Common causes

Build output missing or in another directory

The producing step failed, ran in a different working-directory, or wrote output to a path the glob does not cover.

Glob does not match

A trailing-slash, case, or relative-path mistake makes the pattern match nothing.

How to fix it

Point the path at the real output and fail loudly

1. Confirm the build step produced files and where.
2. Set path to the correct glob (relative to the workspace).
3. Set if-no-files-found: error to fail fast instead of silently skipping.

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: dist
    path: dist/
    if-no-files-found: error

How to prevent it

• Set if-no-files-found: error so missing output fails the job.
• Verify the producing step ran in the expected working-directory.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions