Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · anyhow::Error

Failed to run {label}: {e}

Error message

Failed to run {label}: {e}

What it means

write_text_with_stdin_command (used for macOS pbcopy and Windows `powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command Set-Clipboard -Value $input`) could not spawn the helper process. The OS error names the cause: typically NotFound (binary not on the TUI process's PATH), PermissionDenied, or a fork/exec resource limit. Inside the fallback chain, this error is swallowed unless every later transport also fails.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/tui/clipboard.rs:537

        text,
        "Set-Clipboard",
    )
}

#[cfg(all(any(target_os = "macos", target_os = "windows"), not(test)))]
fn write_text_with_stdin_command(
    program: &str,
    args: &[&str],
    text: &str,
    label: &str,
) -> Result<()> {
    let mut child = Command::new(program)
        .args(args)
        .stdin(Stdio::piped())
        .stdout(Stdio::null())
        .stderr(Stdio::null())
        .spawn()
        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to run {label}: {e}"))?;
    if let Some(mut stdin) = child.stdin.take() {
        stdin
            .write_all(text.as_bytes())
            .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to write to {label}: {e}"))?;
    }
    let _ = std::thread::Builder::new()
        .name("clipboard-wait".to_string())
        .spawn(move || {
            let _ = child.wait();
        });
    Ok(())
}

#[cfg(all(target_os = "linux", not(target_env = "ohos"), not(test)))]
fn write_text_with_wlcopy(text: &str) -> Result<()> {
    write_text_with_wlcopy_using_argv("wl-copy", text)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Run `which pbcopy` (macOS) or `where powershell.exe` (Windows) in the exact environment the TUI launches from
2. Fix the launch environment so PATH includes /usr/bin:/bin (macOS) or the WindowsPowerShell System32 dir
3. Repair the install: pbcopy ships with macOS, so a missing binary signals a broken system
4. Rely on the terminal-client fallback instead: use an OSC 52-capable terminal or tmux

Example fix

# before: wrapper strips PATH
PATH=/custom/bin codewhale tui
# -> Failed to run pbcopy: No such file or directory (os error 2)

# after
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:$PATH codewhale tui

// Rust - preflight helper availability before relying on it
fn helper_available(program: &str) -> bool {
    std::process::Command::new(program)
        .stdin(std::process::Stdio::null())
        .stdout(std::process::Stdio::null())
        .stderr(std::process::Stdio::null())
        .status()
        .is_ok()
}

if !helper_available("pbcopy") { use_osc52_fallback(); } else { /* proceed */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Command::new(program).spawn() returns Err for pbcopy/powershell.exe: the binary is absent from PATH in the TUI's environment, not executable, blocked by a macOS sandbox policy, or the process limit is exhausted.

Common situations: PATH stripped by launcher/service/wrapper scripts; hardened macOS sandboxing; PowerShell relocated or not on PATH on Windows; containers with minimal images.

Related errors

• Failed to run tmux load-buffer -w: {e}
• config lock path {} contains invalid Unicode and cannot be c
• Failed to write to {label}: {e}
• Failed to run {program}: {e}
• NotFound

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f650869028337db0. Report an issue: GitHub.