Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · anyhow::Error

GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE) failed

Error message

GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE) failed

What it means

On Windows, GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE) failed while setting up the stderr redirect for runtime logging — the process has no usable standard error handle (e.g. detached console-less context), so redirection cannot proceed.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/runtime_log.rs:322

#[cfg(windows)]
fn redirect_stderr_to(
    file: &File,
) -> Result<(
    windows::Win32::Foundation::HANDLE,
    windows::Win32::Foundation::HANDLE,
)> {
    use std::os::windows::io::AsRawHandle;
    use windows::Win32::Foundation::{CloseHandle, DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS, DuplicateHandle, HANDLE};
    use windows::Win32::System::Console::{GetStdHandle, STD_ERROR_HANDLE, SetStdHandle};
    use windows::Win32::System::Threading::GetCurrentProcess;

    // SAFETY: GetStdHandle is always available; returns INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE
    // on failure or null-like handles for console-less processes.
    let saved =
        unsafe { GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE) }.context("GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE)")?;
    if saved.is_invalid() {
        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE) failed"));
    }

    // Duplicate the file handle so the redirected stderr owns an
    // independent HANDLE — mirroring the Unix path's `libc::dup`.
    // Without this, `_file` and stderr would alias the same HANDLE;
    // a rogue `CloseHandle` on stderr would silently invalidate `_file`.
    let raw = HANDLE(file.as_raw_handle());
    let process = unsafe { GetCurrentProcess() };
    let mut dup = HANDLE::default();
    unsafe {
        DuplicateHandle(
            process,
            raw,
            process,
            &mut dup,
            0,
            false,
            DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS,

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Run the binary from a normal console or redirect context that provides std handles
2. Run with stderr redirected to a file

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/runtime_log.rs:322 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3bc6f480a1ba60a6. Report an issue: GitHub.