Skip to content

Conversation

@johnathan79717
Copy link
Contributor

Summary

  • Adds a more helpful error message when bb verify fails because the vk file doesn't exist
  • Previously users got a confusing "Unable to open file: ./target/vk" error
  • Now the error provides actionable guidance on how to generate or specify the vk file

Test plan

  • Added VerifyWithMissingVkGivesActionableError test that verifies the error message contains:
    • --write_vk flag guidance
    • bb write_vk command guidance
    • --vk_path option guidance

Fixes #17726

When users run `bb prove` without `--write_vk` and then attempt `bb verify`,
they previously got a confusing "Unable to open file: ./target/vk" error.

Now the error message provides actionable guidance:
"Unable to open file: ./target/vk
Generate a vk during proving by running `bb prove` with an additional `--write_vk`
flag, or run `bb write_vk` to generate a standalone vk.
If you already have a vk file, specify its path with `--vk_path <path>`."

Fixes #17726
@johnathan79717 johnathan79717 force-pushed the fix/actionable-vk-error-message branch from f6c8a8a to f930f19 Compare January 7, 2026 17:43
Copy link
Contributor

@ledwards2225 ledwards2225 left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

Great! thanks for taking care of this

@johnathan79717 johnathan79717 merged commit 5824b41 into merge-train/barretenberg Jan 8, 2026
8 checks passed
@johnathan79717 johnathan79717 deleted the fix/actionable-vk-error-message branch January 8, 2026 16:22
github-merge-queue bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 9, 2026
BEGIN_COMMIT_OVERRIDE
chore: remove round.cpp and round.hpp in dsl/acir_format (#19412)
chore: docs for translator (#19056)
chore: update noir/noir-repo to match next branch
chore: update avm-transpiler Cargo.lock for noir submodule
fix: revert noir/noir-repo to match next and update Cargo.lock
fix: add actionable error when bb verify cannot find vk file (#19398)
chore: `utils.cpp` audit (#19425)
chore: sha audit 1 (#19072)
fix: improve no artifacts found message to include search path (#19432)
chore: simplify Flavors' Transcripts + VKs deduplication (#19326)
Add correct VKSerializationMode to AVM VerificationKey Classes
END_COMMIT_OVERRIDE
github-actions bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 9, 2026
## Summary
- Adds a more helpful error message when `bb verify` fails because the
vk file doesn't exist
- Previously users got a confusing "Unable to open file: ./target/vk"
error
- Now the error provides actionable guidance on how to generate or
specify the vk file

## Test plan
- Added `VerifyWithMissingVkGivesActionableError` test that verifies the
error message contains:
  - `--write_vk` flag guidance
  - `bb write_vk` command guidance
  - `--vk_path` option guidance

Fixes #17726
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

4 participants