CircleCI "Cannot find a job named X" workflow error

A workflow referenced a job that does not exist. CircleCI compiles workflows against the jobs block, and a name that is not defined there (or is misspelled) fails compilation.

What this error means

Config processing fails with "Error calling workflow [name]" and "Cannot find a job named [X] to depend on" or simply "Cannot find a job named [X]".

CircleCI

Error: config compilation contained errors:
 * Error calling workflow: 'ci'
   * Cannot find a job named 'unit-tests' to depend on

Common causes

The job is not defined or is misspelled

The workflow lists unit-tests but the jobs key defines unit_test (or nothing), so the reference is dangling.

A requires entry names a non-existent job

A requires: dependency points at a job name that is not in the workflow, breaking the dependency graph.

How to fix it

Match workflow job names to definitions

List the keys under jobs and compare to the names in the workflow.
Fix the typo or define the missing job.
Ensure every requires: entry names a job in the same workflow.

.circleci/config.yml

jobs:
  unit-tests:
    docker: [{image: cimg/node:20.11}]
    steps: [checkout, {run: npm test}]
workflows:
  ci:
    jobs:
      - unit-tests

Validate the compiled workflow

Process the config so workflow-to-job mismatches surface before the pipeline runs.

Terminal

circleci config validate

How to prevent it

Keep job names identical between jobs and workflows.
Avoid mixing hyphen and underscore styles in job names.
Validate config so dangling job references fail at push time.