My space randomly stopped working. "No application file"

Hello, what happened to my space? It randomly stopped working: trusktr - a Hugging Face Space by trusktr

The README has this header:

---
title: trusktr
emoji: 🖼️
license: mit
colorFrom: pink
colorTo: blue
sdk: static
pinned: true
thumbnail: >-
  https://cdn-uploads.huggingface.co/production/uploads/675f68fa5e2461f83760a0ae/shIqmGK6qN68OnUZjHskF.jpeg
short_description: My scratch pad with live demos.
app_file: ./index.html
header: default
tags:
  [
    lume,
    javascript,
    html,
    css,
    threejs,
    webgl,
    webgpu,
    custom-elements,
    web-components,
    ui,
    ux,
    3d,
    graphics,
    3d-graphics,
    web-3d,
    signals,
    solidjs,
  ]
---

I have not changed it, and the index.html file still exists. What happened?

1 Like

The YAML section in README.md is the configuration file, and its syntax is slightly off. Fixing this might make things work better.

I’m not sure why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t… Maybe a minor spec change…?


Here’s the minimal fix, with just enough background to make it clear.


What’s wrong right now (in plain terms)

Your Space is configured as:

sdk: static
app_file: ./index.html

Even though index.html exists, Hugging Face now expects app_file to be a plain relative path from the repo root, like:

  • index.html
  • dist/index.html

not a path starting with ./ or /. The official docs and working Spaces all use this form. (Hugging Face)

Because ./index.html does not match that pattern, the platform treats your Space as having no valid app file, and shows:

No application file – Incorrect Sdk configuration in the repository

before it ever tries to serve your HTML.


Minimal change to fix it

Change exactly one line in README.md’s metadata.

Before

sdk: static
app_file: ./index.html

After

sdk: static
app_file: index.html

That’s it. One character sequence (./) removed.

Why this works:

  • app_file is now a “path relative to the root of the repository”, exactly as the config reference defines it. (Hugging Face)
  • It matches the pattern used by other running static Spaces like kyutai/hibiki-samples and gorilla-llm/berkeley-function-calling-leaderboard, which use app_file: index.html. (Hugging Face)

How to apply it (step-by-step, very briefly)

  1. Open your Space: https://huggingface.co/spaces/trusktr/trusktr
  2. Go to the Files tab → open README.md.
  3. Click Edit file.
  4. Change app_file: ./index.html → app_file: index.html.
  5. Commit the change.

After that commit, the config should validate correctly, the status should switch from “No application file” to “Running”, and index.html will be served as your app again.