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Theme file not found

theme
A theme: entry names a .scss or .css file that does not exist at its resolved location.

Q-14-4 — Theme File Not Found

A theme: entry names a .scss or .css file that does not exist at its resolved location.

What this means

A value in theme: (under format.html or a similar HTML-like format) ends in .scss or .css, so Quarto treats it as a path to a custom theme file — but no file exists at the place the path resolves to. The error message shows the fully resolved path Quarto looked at, and the render stops rather than shipping CSS that silently omits the theme.

Relative theme paths resolve against the document’s directory. Themes bundled with an extension (declared in the extension’s contributes.formats) must sit next to the extension’s _extension.yml; Quarto then rebases them automatically.

Why this happens

Common causes:

  • A typo in the file name, or the file was moved or renamed without updating theme:.
  • A path written relative to the wrong base — e.g. relative to the project root for a document living in a subdirectory. Check the resolved path in the error message to see where Quarto actually looked.
  • An extension manifest referencing a file the extension does not ship — the theme: entry in contributes.formats names a file that is missing from the extension directory.

How to fix

  • Fix the spelling, or move the file to the resolved location shown in the message.
  • For documents in subdirectories, write the path relative to the document (or use a project-level theme: in _quarto.yml, which Quarto rebases per document automatically).
  • For extensions, ship the file next to _extension.yml so the bundled-file resolution picks it up.