[bbot-server] Unable to start scan with preset created via bbctl (error "Could not find preset at 's'")

[c14dd49h]

Hi,

I encountered an issue when trying to launch a scan using a preset created with bbctl.

1. Target creation works fine:

2. Preset creation also works and is listed:

3. Attempting to start a scan:

bbctl scan start --preset subdomain_enum_preset --target c14dd49h --name "scan_1"

Result:

bbctl activity tail
[2025-09-23 15:35:42] Scan [scan_1] failed to start

Server logs:

server-1    | [WARNING] Error sending scan to agent: Error parsing preset: Could not find preset at "s" - file does not exist. Use -lp to list available presets - Traceback (most recent call last):
server-1    |   File "/app/bbot_server/modules/agents/agent.py", line 123, in start_scan
server-1    |     preset_obj = Preset.from_dict(preset)                                                                                                                                                                                                                               server-1    |                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
server-1    |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/bbot/scanner/preset/preset.py", line 663, in from_dict
server-1    |     new_preset = cls(
server-1    |                  ^^^^
server-1    |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/bbot/scanner/preset/preset.py", line 52, in __call__
server-1    |     include_preset.include_preset(included_preset)
server-1    |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/bbot/scanner/preset/preset.py", line 704, in include_preset
server-1    |     preset_from_yaml = self.from_yaml_file(filename, _exclude=self._preset_files_loaded)
server-1    |                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
server-1    |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/bbot/scanner/preset/preset.py", line 719, in from_yaml_file
server-1    |     filename = PRESET_PATH.find(filename)
server-1    |                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
server-1    |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/bbot/scanner/preset/path.py", line 43, in find
server-1    |     raise ValidationError(
server-1    | bbot.errors.ValidationError: Could not find preset at "s" - file does not exist. Use -lp to list available presets
server-1    |

Environment

• bbot-server latest version (installed via pipx)
• Running on Debian 12 (VPS)

[TheTechromancer]

The preset is malformed; include should be a list. Still, we should validate this when the preset is created.

This is already a TODO on the main BBOT repo:

• Presets - add yaml parsing feedback / validation bbot#1269