docling errror in local models

[jereesh]

Question

Trying to load offline docling models .
I am running the docling by setting the DOCLING_SERVE_ARTIFACTS_PATH to a directory names a:\abc\docling_models. which has sub directories ds4sd--docling-layout-heron and RapidOcr and ds4sd--docling-models and it is working fine , and now I create a container and same structure exist inside the container where the DOCLING_SERVE_ARTIFACTS_PATH=/app/docling_models which has the same sub dir structure as that of my dev env . But when it runs it is trying to find model.sensors file from /app/docling-models/model.safesensors , ideally , this is inside another sub directory right?. what is the issue
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[dosubot]

Docling expects DOCLING_SERVE_ARTIFACTS_PATH to point to the parent directory containing all your model subfolders, not to a specific model folder or to a zip file. Each model (like ds4sd--docling-layout-heron, RapidOcr, ds4sd--docling-models) should be a subdirectory directly inside that path, with files like model.safetensors, config.json, and preprocessor_config.json inside each subfolder—not at the root of the artifacts path. If the directory structure or the environment variable is off, Docling will look for model files at the root (e.g., /app/docling-models/model.safetensors) and fail to find them, which matches what you’re seeing [source].

Common causes for this issue in containers are: the environment variable is set to the wrong path, the directory structure inside the container doesn’t match what Docling expects, or the mount point inside the container is different from what you set in DOCLING_SERVE_ARTIFACTS_PATH. Also, make sure you’re using absolute paths and that the folder and file names are exactly as expected (case-sensitive) [source].

To troubleshoot:

1. Double-check that /app/docling_models exists inside the container and contains your model subfolders (not the model files directly).
2. Confirm that DOCLING_SERVE_ARTIFACTS_PATH is set to /app/docling_models (not /app/docling_models/ds4sd--docling-models or similar).
3. Inside each subfolder (e.g., /app/docling_models/ds4sd--docling-layout-heron/), verify that model.safetensors and the other required files are present.
4. If you copied the models from another environment, make sure the structure was preserved and not flattened or changed during the copy.

If everything looks correct and it still fails, try printing the directory tree inside the container to verify the structure at runtime. This usually resolves most offline model path issues with Docling [source].

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[jereesh]

I have all the required set up model.safetensors exists only inside ds4sd--docling-layout-heron and is working fine with my local machine