Model Loading Error in Rasa 3.6.21 on Windows 10 – [WinError 123]

Rasa Open Source Feedback on Rasa Open Source
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Hi everyone,

I’m encountering a persistent issue when trying to run a model with Rasa Open Source 3.6.21 on Windows 10. The error message I receive is:

Could not load model due to [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect: ‘\\?\C:\Users\My_USER\AppData\Local\Temp\tmp0t1hswm9\components/train_RulePolicy1’.

:test_tube: What I’ve tried so far:

  • Tested with both Python 3.9 and Python 3.10 environments.

  • Created a fresh model using rasa init with Rasa 3.6.21.

  • Changed the TEMP directory path to a shorter location to avoid long file paths.

  • Extracted the model manually and tried pointing directly to the model directory using rasa run --model.

Despite all these attempts, the error persists.

:light_bulb: Observation:

If I temporarily remove the \\\\?\\ prefix from the extracted temp path, the model loads successfully — but that’s obviously not a proper fix. This suggests a bug in how Rasa handles Windows temp paths when loading models.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks in advance!