Incorrect "Could not resolve reference" error displayed.

Q&A

• OS: Windows 10
• Browser: chrome 121.0.6167.86
• Method of installation: Docker (https://hub.docker.com/r/swaggerapi/swagger-ui/tags)
• Swagger-UI version: 5.11.7
• Swagger/OpenAPI version: 3.1

Content & configuration

I've reduced my large multi-file spec down to the bare minimum that demonstrates this issue:

Save as swagger_test.yaml:

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  version: 1.0.0
  title: Title

paths:
  "/path1":
    $ref: './swagger_test_path1.yaml#/paths/%2Fpath1'

  "/path2":
    $ref: './swagger_test_path2.yaml#/paths/%2Fpath2'

Save as swagger_test_path1.yaml:

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  version: 1.0.0
  title: Title

paths:
  "/path1":
    post:
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                rsp:
                  $ref: './swagger_test_schemas.yaml#/components/schemas/WSPath1Response'

      responses:
        204:
          description: Success

Save as swagger_test_path2.yaml:

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  version: 1.0.0
  title: Title

paths:
  "/path2":
    get:
      responses:
        200:
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  result:
                    $ref: "#/components/schemas/WSResult"

    delete:
      responses:
        200:
          description: Success
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  result:
                    $ref: "#/components/schemas/WSResult"

components:
  schemas:
    WSResult:
      type: object
      properties:
        details:
          $ref: './swagger_test_schemas.yaml#/components/schemas/WSResultDetails'

Save as swagger_test_schemas.yaml:

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  version: 1.0.0
  title: Title
paths: {}

components:
  schemas:
    WSBaseResultDetails:
      type: object
      properties:
        info:
          type: string

    WSResultDetails:
      allOf:
        - $ref: "#/components/schemas/WSBaseResultDetails"
        - type: object
          properties:
            status:
              $ref: "#/components/schemas/WSStatus"

    WSStatus:
      type: object
      properties:
        text:
          type: string

    WSPath1Response:
      type: object
      properties:
        data:
          type: string

Describe the bug you're encountering

The spec renders correctly, but the above errors are reported.

Note that if I change the openapi version to 3.1, these errors are not displayed. However, the render time of my large multi-file spec is about 6 seconds when specifying openapi 3.0.3, but about 2.5 minutes when specifying openapi 3.1, so moving to 3.1 is not practical at this point.

To reproduce...

Open swagger_test.yaml defined above using swagger-ui 5.11.7

Expected behavior

References are resolved and spec is rendered correctly, so "Unresolved reference" errors should not be displayed.

Start by loading swagger_test.yaml and its three referenced YAML files in Swagger UI 5.11.7 with OpenAPI 3.0.3, then compare the reported errors with the correctly rendered specification. Trace the reference-resolution path used for encoded path fragments and nested external references. Done means the specification renders without incorrect unresolved-reference errors while retaining the expected behavior for OpenAPI 3.1.