Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · std::io::Error

Session goal {} must be a regular file

Error message

Session goal {} must be a regular file

What it means

File-type guard in checked_existing_session_goal_file: the per-session goal file exists but symlink_metadata shows it is not a regular file (symlink, directory, or other), so the manager refuses to read or write it as a goal store file.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs:997

                io::ErrorKind::NotFound,
                format!("Session goal store {} was not created", dir.display()),
            )
        })
    }

    fn validated_session_goal_path(&self, session_id: &str) -> std::io::Result<PathBuf> {
        let id = self.validated_session_id(session_id)?;
        Ok(self.session_goals_dir().join(format!("{id}.json")))
    }

    fn checked_existing_session_goal_file(path: &Path) -> std::io::Result<bool> {
        let metadata = match fs::symlink_metadata(path) {
            Ok(metadata) => metadata,
            Err(error) if error.kind() == io::ErrorKind::NotFound => return Ok(false),
            Err(error) => return Err(error),
        };
        if metadata.file_type().is_symlink() || !metadata.is_file() {
            return Err(io::Error::new(
                io::ErrorKind::InvalidData,
                format!("Session goal {} must be a regular file", path.display()),
            ));
        }
        Ok(true)
    }

    fn validated_checkpoint_path(&self, session_id: &str) -> std::io::Result<PathBuf> {
        let trimmed = self.validated_session_id(session_id)?;
        // Reserved file names inside `checkpoints/` must never collide with a
        // per-session checkpoint file.
        if format!("{trimmed}.json") == LEGACY_CHECKPOINT_FILE
            || format!("{trimmed}.json") == OFFLINE_QUEUE_FILE
        {
            return Err(std::io::Error::new(
                std::io::ErrorKind::InvalidInput,
                format!("Session id '{trimmed}' collides with a reserved checkpoint file"),
            ));

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Remove the non-regular file at the goal path and let the manager recreate it.
2. Restore the `<session-id>.json` sidecar as a regular file from backup.
3. Check sync/restore tools that may have created links in the goals directory.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/tui/src/session_manager.rs:997 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/f72e0a3edea6ada4. Report an issue: GitHub.