Guild run failed error "guild: run directory is missing status file"

TL;DR

Recover or discard the incomplete run directory: a Guild run directory without a status file is a run that died before Guild finished initialising it, so check for a live process first, then either let Guild repair the run view or remove the orphaned directory. Guild tracks each run in a directory whose status file is written at startup. A crash, a killed process, or a copied run directory can leave the shell of a run with no status, and every Guild command trips over it.

Guild run failed error "guild: run directory is missing status file"

Use this when

• The check or run fails with this symptom: a Guild run fails with guild run directory is missing status file.
• You are working on a Guild AI workspace where runs are listed, compared, or summarised and the failure repeats on the same data or configuration.
• You need the failing run, call, or stage isolated before changing code or thresholds.

Not for this skill when

• A run directory copied from another machine without its metadata, which needs a proper export rather than a repair.
• The error text names a different tool, stage, or root cause. Match the verbatim error first and use that skill.

Steps

1. Identify the run directory named in the error and check for a live Guild process using it. Verify: no live process owns the directory, or one is still starting
2. Inspect the directory contents for logs or outputs worth keeping. Verify: salvageable outputs are copied aside
3. If the run never started, delete the orphaned directory. Verify: Guild commands stop failing on it
4. If the run did work, restore the directory from a backup or re-run the operation to regenerate it. Verify: the run appears with a valid status
5. Run a Guild runs listing. Verify: the workspace lists cleanly with no missing status errors

Variant phrasings

guild run directory is missing status file

The shorter phrasing focused on the named failure.

guild run failed missing status error

The symptom phrasing a searcher tries next.

guild orphaned run directory fix

The variant naming the failing stage or tool directly.

Compatibility: Guild AI run directories and workspace metadata

Why it happens

Guild initialises a run directory and then writes its status as the operation starts. Interruptions in that narrow window, and tools that copy run directories partially, leave entries the run index cannot read, and Guild reports the missing status file on any command that scans runs.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Deleting a run directory deletes its outputs; always inspect and copy before removing.
• A status file that exists but is empty is the same failure in another form; treat the run as uninitialised.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstNuLJvh0H86MIIH7-whgjg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstNuLJvh0H86MIIH7-whgjg

Thread query: Guild run failed error "guild: run directory is missing status file"

TL;DR: Recover or discard the incomplete run directory: a Guild run directory without a status file is a run that died before Guild finished initialising it, so check for a live process first, then either let Guild repair the run view or remove the orphaned directory. Guild tracks each run in a directory whose status file is written at startup. A crash, a killed process, or a copied run directory can leave the shell of a run with no status, and every Guild command trips over it.