# Pkg, instantiate error

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [April 20, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878 "2020-04-20T05:01:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zhangliye](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/zhangliye/32/3208_2.png) [@zhangliye](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/zhangliye)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/1 "2020-04-20T05:01:28Z")

</div>

I found the command `instantiate` encountered errors in Julia1.3, which works quite well before.

I have developed a package, `hotspot`, I run the following commands.

```julia
(v1.3) pkg> activate .
Activating environment at `~/julia_dev/mt/hotspot/Project.toml`

(Hotspot) pkg> instantiate
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching joinpath(::Nothing)
Closest candidates are:
  joinpath(::String, ::String) at path.jl:265
  joinpath(::AbstractString) at path.jl:247
  joinpath(::AbstractString, ::AbstractString) at path.jl:274
  ...
Stacktrace:
 [1] stat(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:109
 [2] isdir(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:311
 [3] is_instantiated(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/Operations.jl:83
 [4] #instantiate#114(::Nothing, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.MacOS, ::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}, ::typeof(Pkg.API.instantiate), ::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/API.jl:738
 [5] instantiate(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/API.jl:720
 [6] do_instantiate!(::Dict{Symbol,Any}, ::Array{String,1}, ::Dict{Symbol,Any}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/REPLMode.jl:477
 [7] #invokelatest#1(::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}, ::typeof(Base.invokelatest), ::Any, ::Any, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N) at ./essentials.jl:709
 [8] invokelatest(::Any, ::Any, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N) at ./essentials.jl:708
 [9] do_cmd!(::Pkg.REPLMode.Command, ::REPL.LineEditREPL) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/REPLMode.jl:412
 [10] #do_cmd#23(::Bool, ::typeof(Pkg.REPLMode.do_cmd), ::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::String) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/REPLMode.jl:391
 [11] do_cmd at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/REPLMode.jl:387 [inlined]
 [12] (::Pkg.REPLMode.var"#28#31"{REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})(::REPL.LineEdit.MIState, ::Base.GenericIOBuffer{Array{UInt8,1}}, ::Bool) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/Pkg/src/REPLMode.jl:619
 [13] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:709 [inlined]
 [14] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:708 [inlined]
 [15] run_interface(::REPL.Terminals.TextTerminal, ::REPL.LineEdit.ModalInterface, ::REPL.LineEdit.MIState) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/REPL/src/LineEdit.jl:2306
 [16] run_frontend(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::REPL.REPLBackendRef) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/REPL/src/REPL.jl:1045
 [17] run_repl(::REPL.AbstractREPL, ::Any) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.3/REPL/src/REPL.jl:201
 [18] (::Base.var"#770#772"{Bool,Bool,Bool,Bool})(::Module) at ./client.jl:382
 [19] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:709 [inlined]
 [20] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:708 [inlined]
 [21] run_main_repl(::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool) at ./client.jl:366
 [22] exec_options(::Base.JLOptions) at ./client.jl:304
 [23] _start() at ./client.jl:460

```

The version information,

```julia
Commit 2d5741174c (2019-12-30 21:36 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: macOS (x86_64-apple-darwin18.6.0)
  CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8500 CPU @ 3.00GHz
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-6.0.1 (ORCJIT, skylake)

```

I also tested on linux and got the same error information.

These command works well in old versions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/2 "2020-04-20T05:57:20Z")

</div>

Note that with 1.4 released, 1.3 is not supported at this point. Your best option would be upgrading to 1.4.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zhangliye](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/zhangliye/32/3208_2.png) [@zhangliye](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/zhangliye)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/3 "2020-04-20T07:19:56Z")

</div>

Thank you so much for your swift reply! I updated to Julia1.4.1. The error is the same as following. I think it is caused by the path error. I am not sure if it is a bug in Pkg.

I am developing a package. I usually run `dev` first, second run `activate .`, then revise the code and run `test` to check the code. I use this workflow for a long time. This is the first time it does not work. Very strange!

```julia
(@v1.4) pkg> activate .
 Activating environment at `~/julia_dev/mt/hotspot/Project.toml`

(Hotspot) pkg> test
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching joinpath(::Nothing)
Closest candidates are:
  joinpath(::AbstractString) at path.jl:244
  joinpath(::AbstractString, ::AbstractString...) at path.jl:290
Stacktrace:
 [1] stat(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:109
 [2] isdir(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:311
 [3] is_instantiated(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/Operations.jl:109
 [4] instantiate(::Pkg.Types.Context; manifest::Nothing, update_registry::Bool, verbose::Bool, platform::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.MacOS, kwargs::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:779
 [5] instantiate(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:748
 [6] test(::Pkg.Types.Context, ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}; coverage::Bool, julia_args::Cmd, test_args::Cmd, test_fn::Nothing) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/Operations.jl:1453
 [7] test(::Pkg.Types.Context, ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}; coverage::Bool, test_fn::Nothing, julia_args::Cmd, test_args::Cmd, kwargs::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:316
 [8] test(::Pkg.Types.Context, ::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:303
 [9] #test#68 at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:297 [inlined]
 [10] test(::Array{Pkg.Types.PackageSpec,1}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:297
 [11] do_cmd!(::Pkg.REPLMode.Command, ::REPL.LineEditREPL) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:403
 [12] do_cmd(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::String; do_rethrow::Bool) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:381
 [13] do_cmd at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:376 [inlined]
 [14] (::Pkg.REPLMode.var"#24#27"{REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})(::REPL.LineEdit.MIState, ::Base.GenericIOBuffer{Array{UInt8,1}}, ::Bool) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:542
 [15] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:712 [inlined]
 [16] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:711 [inlined]
 [17] run_interface(::REPL.Terminals.TextTerminal, ::REPL.LineEdit.ModalInterface, ::REPL.LineEdit.MIState) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/LineEdit.jl:2354
 [18] run_frontend(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::REPL.REPLBackendRef) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/REPL.jl:1055
 [19] run_repl(::REPL.AbstractREPL, ::Any) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/REPL.jl:206
 [20] (::Base.var"#764#766"{Bool,Bool,Bool,Bool})(::Module) at ./client.jl:383
 [21] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:712 [inlined]
 [22] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:711 [inlined]
 [23] run_main_repl(::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool) at ./client.jl:367
 [24] exec_options(::Base.JLOptions) at ./client.jl:305
 [25] _start() at ./client.jl:484

(Hotspot) pkg> instantiate
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching joinpath(::Nothing)
Closest candidates are:
  joinpath(::AbstractString) at path.jl:244
  joinpath(::AbstractString, ::AbstractString...) at path.jl:290
Stacktrace:
 [1] stat(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:109
 [2] isdir(::Nothing) at ./stat.jl:311
 [3] is_instantiated(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/Operations.jl:109
 [4] instantiate(::Pkg.Types.Context; manifest::Nothing, update_registry::Bool, verbose::Bool, platform::Pkg.BinaryPlatforms.MacOS, kwargs::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Union{},Union{},Tuple{},NamedTuple{(),Tuple{}}}) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:779
 [5] instantiate(::Pkg.Types.Context) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:748
 [6] #instantiate#116 at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:744 [inlined]
 [7] instantiate() at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/API.jl:744
 [8] do_cmd!(::Pkg.REPLMode.Command, ::REPL.LineEditREPL) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:400
 [9] do_cmd(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::String; do_rethrow::Bool) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:381
 [10] do_cmd at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:376 [inlined]
 [11] (::Pkg.REPLMode.var"#24#27"{REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})(::REPL.LineEdit.MIState, ::Base.GenericIOBuffer{Array{UInt8,1}}, ::Bool) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:542
 [12] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:712 [inlined]
 [13] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:711 [inlined]
 [14] run_interface(::REPL.Terminals.TextTerminal, ::REPL.LineEdit.ModalInterface, ::REPL.LineEdit.MIState) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/LineEdit.jl:2354
 [15] run_frontend(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::REPL.REPLBackendRef) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/REPL.jl:1055
 [16] run_repl(::REPL.AbstractREPL, ::Any) at /Users/julia/buildbot/worker/package_macos64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.4/REPL/src/REPL.jl:206
 [17] (::Base.var"#764#766"{Bool,Bool,Bool,Bool})(::Module) at ./client.jl:383
 [18] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:712 [inlined]
 [19] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:711 [inlined]
 [20] run_main_repl(::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Bool) at ./client.jl:367
 [21] exec_options(::Base.JLOptions) at ./client.jl:305
 [22] _start() at ./client.jl:484

```

version information,

```julia
Julia Version 1.4.1
Commit 381693d3df* (2020-04-14 17:20 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: macOS (x86_64-apple-darwin18.7.0)
  CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8500 CPU @ 3.00GHz
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-8.0.1 (ORCJIT, skylake)

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![zhangliye](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/zhangliye/32/3208_2.png) [@zhangliye](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/zhangliye)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/4 "2020-04-20T07:21:38Z")

</div>

When I run `using Hotspot`, the package is compiled successfully.  
Works well as before. The only error is from the command `instantiate`.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![oheil](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oheil/32/220745_2.png) [@oheil](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/oheil)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:30am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/5 "2020-04-20T07:30:23Z")

</div>

Maybe your Manifest.toml (the one in the environement path) is corrupt.  
You can try to rename this file and do  
`(Hotspot) pkg> instantiate`  
again.  
Not sure if this works.  
It may also be the Project.toml which is wrong.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kristoffer.carlsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kristoffer.carlsson/32/22_2.png) [@kristoffer.carlsson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kristoffer.carlsson)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 7:31am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-instantiate-error/37878/6 "2020-04-20T07:31:20Z")

</div>

It was already posted to [`instantiate` command error in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) ( on windows 10 ) · Issue #1785 · JuliaLang/Pkg.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/JuliaLang/Pkg.jl/issues/1785).