LGUG2Z/komorebi · critical

there is no home directory

Error message

there is no home directory

What it means

While applying the bar theme in `try_apply_theme` (called from `apply_config` and `update`), komorebi-bar resolves its config home directory: it reads `KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME`, and if unset falls back to `dirs::home_dir()`. The expect `"there is no home directory"` panics when the fallback also fails, i.e. the OS gives no home directory for the current user.

Source

Thrown at komorebi-bar/src/bar.rs:635

        };
    }

    fn try_apply_theme(&mut self, ctx: &Context) {
        match &self.config.theme {
            Some(theme) => {
                apply_theme(
                    ctx,
                    theme.clone(),
                    self.bg_color.clone(),
                    self.bg_color_with_alpha.clone(),
                    self.config.transparency_alpha,
                    self.config.grouping,
                    self.render_config.clone(),
                );
            }
            None => {
                let home_dir: PathBuf = std::env::var("KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME").map_or_else(
                    |_| dirs::home_dir().expect("there is no home directory"),
                    |home_path| {
                        let home = home_path.replace_env();

                        assert!(
                            home.is_dir(),
                            "$Env:KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME is set to '{home_path}', which is not a valid directory"
                        );

                        home

                    },
                );

                let bar_transparency_alpha = self.config.transparency_alpha;
                let bar_grouping = self.config.grouping;
                let config = home_dir.join("komorebi.json");
                match komorebi_client::StaticConfig::read(&config) {
                    Ok(config) => {

View on GitHub (pinned to e0709f02bf)

Solutions

  1. Set `KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME` to a valid directory before launching the bar (e.g. `$Env:KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME = "$Env:USERPROFILE\.config\komorebi"`).
  2. Ensure `USERPROFILE` (Windows) or `HOME` (Unix) is set and points to an existing directory in the environment that starts the bar.
  3. Launch the bar from a normal user shell rather than a stripped service context, or pass the env vars explicitly to the process.
  4. Library-side: handle `dirs::home_dir()` returning None with an error message instead of an expect panic.

Example fix

// before
let home_dir: PathBuf = std::env::var("KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME").map_or_else(
    |_| dirs::home_dir().expect("there is no home directory"),
    |home_path| { /* ... */ },
);
// after
let home_dir: PathBuf = std::env::var("KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME").map_or_else(
    |_| dirs::home_dir().ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("there is no home directory; set KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME"))?,
    |home_path| { /* ... */ },
);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// check before starting the bar (PowerShell)
if (-not $Env:KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME -and -not $Env:USERPROFILE) {
    throw "Neither KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME nor USERPROFILE is set; the bar cannot resolve a config home"
}

Type guard

fn resolve_home_dir() -> Option<PathBuf> {
    std::env::var_os("KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME")
        .map(PathBuf::from)
        .or_else(|| dirs::home_dir())
}

Try / catch

// PowerShell wrapper that guarantees a home before launching
if (-not $Env:KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME) {
    $Env:KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME = "$Env:USERPROFILE\.config\komorebi"
}
& komorebi-bar

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running komorebi-bar with `KOMOREBI_CONFIG_HOME` unset AND `dirs::home_dir()` returning None — typically when the `USERPROFILE`/`HOME` environment variables are missing in the process environment (stripped env in services, scheduled tasks, or exotic launchers on Windows).

Common situations: Launching the bar from a service or task scheduler with a minimal environment, running inside a container or CI shell with no USERPROFILE, or corrupted user profile env vars so Windows cannot resolve a home directory.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of LGUG2Z/komorebi@e0709f02bf (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/300276e8edb0d4df. Report an issue: GitHub.