Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error

ripgrep exited with code ${result.status}

Error message

ripgrep exited with code ${result.status}

What it means

Thrown by searchFilesWithRipgrepGlob when the spawned ripgrep process exits with a status greater than 1 while listing files by glob. Exit code 1 deliberately means 'no matches' and is not an error; codes above 1 indicate ripgrep failed (bad glob syntax, unreadable path, missing binary). The error message prefers ripgrep's stderr when present, otherwise reports the numeric exit code.

Source

Thrown at server/utils/agents/aibitat/plugins/filesystem/search-files.js:292

  const args = [
    "--files", // List files instead of searching content
    "--no-ignore", // Search all files, even those in .gitignore
  ];

  // Add glob patterns (ripgrep uses --glob for filtering --files output)
  for (const pattern of patterns) args.push("--glob", pattern);
  for (const exclude of excludePatterns) args.push("--glob", `!${exclude}`);

  // The "--" prevents searchPath from being parsed as an option if it starts with "-"
  // (defense against argument injection attacks)
  args.push("--", searchPath);
  const result = spawnSync(rgPath, args, {
    encoding: "utf-8",
    maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024,
  });

  if (result.status > 1) {
    throw new Error(
      result.stderr || `ripgrep exited with code ${result.status}`
    );
  }

  // unique files
  const files = new Set();
  if (!result.stdout) return { files: Array.from(files), method: "ripgrep" };

  const lines = result.stdout.trim().split("\n").filter(Boolean);
  for (const line of lines) {
    files.add(line);
    if (files.size >= maxResults) break;
  }

  return { files: Array.from(files), method: "ripgrep" };
}

/**

View on GitHub (pinned to 3aec848f28)

Solutions

  1. Read the message: if it is stderr text, it names the exact bad argument (usually a --glob value); fix or simplify that glob.
  2. Confirm searchPath exists and is readable: ls -la <searchPath> under the same user the server runs as.
  3. Sanity-check the binary: run "$(node -e \"print require('@vscode/ripgrep').rgPath\")" --version; reinstall @vscode/ripgrep if it fails.
  4. Remember status 1 with empty output is a normal 'no files matched', not this error — do not chase it.

Example fix

// before
search_files({ path: "src", include: "src/{*.js" })  // unbalanced brace -> rg exit 2

// after
search_files({ path: "src", include: "*.js" })
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const fs = require("fs");
function validateGlobSearch(searchPath, patterns) {
  if (!fs.existsSync(searchPath) || !fs.statSync(searchPath).isDirectory()) {
    throw new Error(`searchPath is not a readable directory: ${searchPath}`);
  }
  for (const g of patterns) {
    if (typeof g !== "string" || /[{}]{1}/.test(g.replace(/\\[{}]/g, "")) === false && (g.match(/{/g)?.length !== g.match(/}/g)?.length)) {
      throw new Error(`possibly unbalanced glob: ${g}`);
    }
  }
}

Try / catch

try {
  const res = searchFilesWithRipgrepGlob({ searchPath, patterns, excludePatterns });
} catch (e) {
  // e.message is ripgrep stderr when present — it names the offending --glob or path
  if (/unrecognized|invalid/i.test(e.message)) fixGlobFromMessage(e.message);
  else if (/exit code/.test(e.message)) checkRgBinary();
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an invalid glob to --glob (e.g. unbalanced braces like "src/{*.js"); searchPath does not exist or is unreadable by the rg process; the rg binary downloaded by @vscode/ripgrep is missing/corrupt so the spawn errors out; glob containing characters rg treats as invalid UTF-8.

Common situations: LLM agent fabricates a malformed glob; searchPath typos ('./srcc'); container runs as a non-root user that cannot traverse the directory; @vscode/ripgrep postinstall silently failed so rgPath points nowhere.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@3aec848f28 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bee33d6c2830bf5a. Report an issue: GitHub.