jest "ENOENT: no such file or directory" for a snapshot file in CI: case-sensitivity issue

TL;DR

Your local filesystem is case-insensitive, so import Button from './button' resolves even when the file is really Button.js. CI runners use case-sensitive filesystems, so the same import fails with ENOENT. Find the casing mismatch with git ls-files, fix it with git mv (or fix the import), and the CI error goes away. One rename, no code changes.

jest "ENOENT: no such file or directory" for a snapshot file in CI: case-sensitivity issue

Steps

1. Copy the exact path from the CI ENOENT message and run git ls-files | grep -i [the-filename] locally. Expected: you see the committed casing, which differs from what the import or the snapshot lookup asked for.
2. Check the import or the snapshot path in the spec for the wrong casing, for example an import of ./button when the file is Button.js, or a __snapshots__ directory cased differently from the spec file name. Expected: you find the single mismatched segment.
3. Rename with git so the casing change is tracked: git mv OldName.js newname.js (use a temp name in between on case-insensitive systems if git complains the names are identical). Expected: git status shows the rename.
4. Commit and push, then rerun CI. Expected: the ENOENT error is gone and the snapshot file resolves.

Use this when

• Jest reports ENOENT for a snapshot or module file only in CI
• The file exists locally and the suite passes on a Mac or Windows machine
• A recent rename touched the file or the directory casing

Not for this skill when

• The file is genuinely missing (never committed, gitignored)
• The error is a snapshot VALUE mismatch, not a missing file
• The failure is a permissions error or a broken symlink

Variant phrasings

• jest snapshot file not found in CI but exists locally
• ENOENT snapshot snapshots case sensitive filesystem
• jest passes on Mac fails on Linux file not found

Why it happens

macOS and Windows default to case-insensitive filesystems: ./button and ./Button hit the same file. Linux CI runners are case-sensitive, so the wrong casing is a genuinely different path and the lookup fails. Renames done through a GUI or an editor often change content but leave git holding the old casing, which is why the bug survives local runs.

Edge cases

• The mismatch can hide in the directory name (__Snapshots__ vs __snapshots__), not just the file. Check every segment.
• If two files differ only by case, the repo is broken on case-insensitive checkouts too. Rename one of them properly.
• After the rename, search the codebase for other imports using the old casing so the next CI run does not hit the same bug in a different spec.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_LSAAXh2FE4dsezMfzlpSpQ