From f63a63fa6cf654dcdc647d5714d4bf102bbf8611 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Timothy Rule <34501912+trulede@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:56:35 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: improve error message when searching for Taskfile.
 (#2682)

---
 errors/errors_taskfile.go | 11 +++++++----
 internal/fsext/fs.go      | 17 ++++++++++-------
 setup.go                  | 11 ++++-------
 taskfile/node_file.go     |  8 +++++++-
 taskrc/taskrc.go          |  4 ++++
 5 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)

diff --git a/errors/errors_taskfile.go b/errors/errors_taskfile.go
index ad665d29..0bc2f09f 100644
--- a/errors/errors_taskfile.go
+++ b/errors/errors_taskfile.go
@@ -11,14 +11,17 @@ import (
 // TaskfileNotFoundError is returned when no appropriate Taskfile is found when
 // searching the filesystem.
 type TaskfileNotFoundError struct {
-	URI     string
-	Walk    bool
-	AskInit bool
+	URI         string
+	Walk        bool
+	AskInit     bool
+	OwnerChange bool
 }
 
 func (err TaskfileNotFoundError) Error() string {
 	var walkText string
-	if err.Walk {
+	if err.OwnerChange {
+		walkText = " (or any of the parent directories until ownership changed)."
+	} else if err.Walk {
 		walkText = " (or any of the parent directories)."
 	}
 	if err.AskInit {
diff --git a/internal/fsext/fs.go b/internal/fsext/fs.go
index 8c8e3af6..cbeeede9 100644
--- a/internal/fsext/fs.go
+++ b/internal/fsext/fs.go
@@ -108,10 +108,10 @@ func SearchAll(entrypoint, dir string, possibleFilenames []string) ([]string, er
 		}
 	}
 	paths, err := SearchNPathRecursively(dir, possibleFilenames, -1)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return append(entrypoints, paths...), nil
+	// The call to SearchNPathRecursively is ambiguous and may return
+	// os.ErrPermission if its search ends, however it may have still
+	// returned valid paths. Caller may choose to ignore that error.
+	return append(entrypoints, paths...), err
 }
 
 // SearchPath will check if a file at the given path exists or not. If it does,
@@ -188,9 +188,12 @@ func SearchNPathRecursively(path string, possibleFilenames []string, n int) ([]s
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		// Error if we reached the root directory and still haven't found a file
-		// OR if the user id of the directory changes
-		if path == parentPath || (parentOwner != owner) {
+		// If the user id of the directory changes indicate a permission error, otherwise
+		// the calling code will infer an error condition based on the accumulated
+		// contents of paths.
+		if parentOwner != owner {
+			return paths, os.ErrPermission
+		} else if path == parentPath {
 			return paths, nil
 		}
 
diff --git a/setup.go b/setup.go
index fbbe64e7..d9f57d46 100644
--- a/setup.go
+++ b/setup.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/env"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/execext"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/filepathext"
-	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/fsext"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/logger"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/output"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/version"
@@ -60,12 +59,10 @@ func (e *Executor) getRootNode() (taskfile.Node, error) {
 		taskfile.WithCert(e.Cert),
 		taskfile.WithCertKey(e.CertKey),
 	)
-	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{
-			URI:     fsext.DefaultDir(e.Entrypoint, e.Dir),
-			Walk:    true,
-			AskInit: true,
-		}
+	var taskNotFoundError errors.TaskfileNotFoundError
+	if errors.As(err, &taskNotFoundError) {
+		taskNotFoundError.AskInit = true
+		return nil, taskNotFoundError
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/taskfile/node_file.go b/taskfile/node_file.go
index bbfb2857..7e015a05 100644
--- a/taskfile/node_file.go
+++ b/taskfile/node_file.go
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@ func NewFileNode(entrypoint, dir string, opts ...NodeOption) (*FileNode, error)
 	resolvedEntrypoint, err := fsext.Search(entrypoint, dir, DefaultTaskfiles)
 	if err != nil {
 		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-			return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{URI: entrypoint, Walk: false}
+			if entrypoint == "" {
+				return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{URI: entrypoint, Walk: true}
+			} else {
+				return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{URI: entrypoint, Walk: false}
+			}
+		} else if errors.Is(err, os.ErrPermission) {
+			return nil, errors.TaskfileNotFoundError{URI: entrypoint, Walk: true, OwnerChange: true}
 		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/taskrc/taskrc.go b/taskrc/taskrc.go
index bfa91093..c4c921f7 100644
--- a/taskrc/taskrc.go
+++ b/taskrc/taskrc.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/errors"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/internal/fsext"
 	"github.com/go-task/task/v3/taskrc/ast"
 )
@@ -62,6 +63,9 @@ func GetConfig(dir string) (*ast.TaskRC, error) {
 		return config, err
 	}
 	entrypoints, err := fsext.SearchAll("", absDir, defaultTaskRCs)
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrPermission) {
+		err = nil
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return config, err
 	}