DioxusLabs/dioxus · error · anyhow::Error

Couldn't retrieve cargo metadata

Error message

Couldn't retrieve cargo metadata: {:?}

What it means

Raised in post_create (called from create) when cargo_metadata is asked for the workspace metadata of the newly created project's parent directory and returns an Err that is not merely 'CWD is not part of a cargo workspace'. This is an external tool failure around `cargo metadata` — the debug-formatted error describes why metadata extraction failed, e.g. an unreadable manifest or broken workspace.

Solutions

1. cargo metadata failed. Ensure cargo is installed and the workspace Cargo.toml is valid.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/cli/src/cli/create.rs:155 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of DioxusLabs/dioxus@24f6a829df (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/45f4387a2e669e24. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/cli/src/cli/create.rs:155

        .file_name()
        .context("Current path does not include directory name".to_string())?
        .to_str()
        .context("Current directory name is not a valid UTF-8 string".to_string())?
        .to_string())
}

/// Post-creation actions for newly setup crates.
pub(crate) fn post_create(path: &Path, vcs: &Vcs) -> Result<()> {
    let metadata = if let Some(parent_dir) = path.parent() {
        match cargo_metadata::MetadataCommand::new()
            .current_dir(parent_dir)
            .exec()
        {
            Ok(v) => Some(v),
            // Only 1 error means that CWD isn't a cargo project.
            Err(cargo_metadata::Error::CargoMetadata { .. }) => None,
            Err(err) => {
                anyhow::bail!("Couldn't retrieve cargo metadata: {:?}", err)
            }
        }
    } else {
        None
    };

    // 1. Add the new project to the workspace, if it exists.
    //    This must be executed first in order to run `cargo fmt` on the new project.
    let is_workspace = metadata.is_some();
    metadata.and_then(|metadata| {
        let cargo_toml_path = &metadata.workspace_root.join("Cargo.toml");
        let cargo_toml_str = std::fs::read_to_string(cargo_toml_path).ok()?;
        let relative_path = path.strip_prefix(metadata.workspace_root).ok()?;

        let mut cargo_toml: toml_edit::DocumentMut = cargo_toml_str.parse().ok()?;
        cargo_toml
            .get_mut("workspace")?
            .get_mut("members")?

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