Error creating review comment: "path could not be resolved" for valid file in PR diff

[sartorijr92]

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Error creating review comment: "path could not be resolved" for valid file in PR diff

Using Octokit

Version: @octokit/rest@^22.0.1

const comment = await octokit.pulls.createReviewComment({
  owner: 'org-name',
  repo: 'repo-name',
  pull_number: 123,
  body: 'Review comment',
  commit_id: 'abc123def456',
  path: 'src/services/example.ts',
  start_line: 10,
  line: 15,
  side: 'RIGHT',
  start_side: 'RIGHT',
});

Error

HttpError: Validation Failed: {"resource":"PullRequestReviewComment","code":"invalid","field":"pull_request_review_thread.path","message":"could not be resolved"}

Full stack trace:

HttpError: Validation Failed: {"resource":"PullRequestReviewComment","code":"invalid","field":"pull_request_review_thread.path","message":"could not be resolved"} - https://docs.github.com/rest/pulls/comments#create-a-review-comment-for-a-pull-request
    at fetchWrapper (file:///usr/src/app/node_modules/@octokit/request/dist-bundle/index.js:123:11)
    at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:105:5)
    at requestWithGraphqlErrorHandling (file:///usr/src/app/node_modules/@octokit/plugin-retry/dist-bundle/index.js:36:20)
    at Job.doExecute (/usr/src/app/node_modules/bottleneck/light.js:405:18)

Context

• The file exists in the PR diff (validated with octokit.pulls.listFiles before attempting to create the comment)
• path matches exactly what's returned by listFiles

Additional Information

This occurs in our automated code review tool that creates review comments on PRs. We validate all paths before attempting to create comments, but still encounter this error occasionally.

[krishparmar22242]

Hey! I looked into that Octokit 'path could not be resolved' error. It’s a super common trap when building code review bots.
The issue usually isn't that the file is missing, but that the Commit SHA you’re using doesn't 'see' that file in the way GitHub expects.
Here is the 2-minute fix for your tool:
Grab the Latest SHA: Before posting the comment, do a quick octokit.pulls.get to find the current pr.head.sha. If a dev pushed a new commit while your bot was thinking, using the old SHA will cause this crash.
Check the 'Hunk': The REST API is strict you can only comment on lines that were actually changed in the PR. If your bot tries to comment on line 15 but only lines 1-10 were modified, it will fail.
The Race Condition: If this happens 'occasionally,' it’s almost definitely a race condition where a new commit was pushed while your tool was running.
Try switching to the latest head.sha for every comment call—that usually solves 99% of these validation failures

Code Reference
Always use the Head SHA
Don't rely on the SHA from the initial webhook event. Fetch the latest PR data right before commenting to get the current head.sha.
For Example
const { data: pr } = await octokit.pulls.get({
owner,
repo,
pull_number,
});
const current_commit_id = pr.head.sha; // Use THIS for your comment

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