BloopAI/vibe-kanban · error · Error

Invalid response from file system API

Error message

Invalid response from file system API

What it means

In FolderPickerDialog's loadDirectory, the response of `fileSystemApi.list(path)` is validated before use: if it is null/undefined or not an object, the code throws 'Invalid response from file system API'. This indicates the file-system API endpoint returned something the dialog cannot interpret (empty body, error payload, or a non-JSON response) instead of a DirectoryListResponse.

Source

Thrown at packages/web-core/src/shared/dialogs/shared/FolderPickerDialog.tsx:72

    }, [entries, searchTerm]);

    useEffect(() => {
      if (modal.visible) {
        setManualPath(value);
        loadDirectory();
      }
    }, [modal.visible, value]);

    const loadDirectory = async (path?: string) => {
      setLoading(true);
      setError('');

      try {
        const result: DirectoryListResponse = await fileSystemApi.list(path);

        // Ensure result exists and has the expected structure
        if (!result || typeof result !== 'object') {
          throw new Error('Invalid response from file system API');
        }
        // Safely access entries, ensuring it's an array
        const entries = Array.isArray(result.entries) ? result.entries : [];
        setEntries(entries);
        const newPath = result.current_path || '';
        setCurrentPath(newPath);
        // Update manual path if we have a specific path (not for initial home directory load)
        if (path) {
          setManualPath(newPath);
        }
      } catch (err) {
        setError(
          err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Failed to load directory'
        );
        // Reset entries to empty array on error
        setEntries([]);
      } finally {
        setLoading(false);

View on GitHub (pinned to 4deb7eca8f)

Solutions

1. Check the network tab/backend logs for what the file-system list endpoint actually returned (status code, body).
2. Ensure the API client throws on non-2xx responses instead of resolving with the error body.
3. Verify the backend file-system service is running and reachable for the selected host.
4. Confirm frontend/backend versions match so DirectoryListResponse serialization is compatible.

Example fix

// before
const result = await fileSystemApi.list(path);
// after
const res = await fetch(listUrl);
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`File system API returned ${res.status}`);
const result = await res.json();

const isDirectoryListResponse = (v: unknown): v is DirectoryListResponse =>
  typeof v === 'object' && v !== null &&
  Array.isArray((v as DirectoryListResponse).entries);

function isDirectoryListResponse(v: unknown): v is DirectoryListResponse {
  return (
    typeof v === 'object' &&
    v !== null &&
    'entries' in v &&
    Array.isArray((v as { entries: unknown }).entries)
  );
}

try {
  await loadDirectory(path);
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message === 'Invalid response from file system API') {
    showEmptyState('Could not read directory');
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling fileSystemApi.list(path) where the backend responds with an empty body, an HTML error page, a null JSON literal, or any non-object payload that fails the `result && typeof result === 'object'` check.

Common situations: Backend proxy/auth failures returning error pages; a remote host where the file-system service is unreachable and the transport unwraps to null; version mismatch where an older/newer backend returns a differently-shaped payload; network middleware swallowing errors into undefined.

Related errors

• Host returned HTTP ${response.status}
• Auth methods lookup failed (${res.status})
• Failed to list projects (${res.status})
• Session refresh failed. Please sign in again.
• WebRTC offer failed: ${response.status} ${response.statusTex

AI-assisted analysis of BloopAI/vibe-kanban@4deb7eca8f (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8e704ca0506c43b0. Report an issue: GitHub.