a-b-street/abstreet · error

Failed to run

Error message

Failed to run {:?}: {:?}

What it means

In must_run_cmd, when cmd.status() itself returns Err (the process could not be spawned at all — executable not on PATH, permission denied, etc.), it panics with "Failed to run {cmd:?}: {err}". Unlike error 11, the command never executed; this is a spawn failure.

Solutions

1. Install the missing executable (e.g. apt install osmium-tool) or build the repo's own binary the command refers to.
2. Check that the executable name is on PATH: `which <cmd>`; extend PATH in CI/cron environments.
3. Verify the file has the execute permission bit set (chmod +x).
4. Use Command::spawn/status with a match on io::Error if you want a graceful fallback to a different tool.

Example fix

// before
abstutil::must_run_cmd(&mut Command::new("osmium"));
// after
if which::which("osmium").is_err() {
    eprintln!("osmium not installed; skipping extract step");
    return;
}
abstutil::must_run_cmd(&mut Command::new("osmium"));

use std::process::Command;
let exe = cmd.get_program().to_string_lossy();
assert!(which::which(&*exe).is_ok(), "executable '{}' not on PATH", exe);

// Panics uncatchably; guard the spawn yourself:
if let Err(e) = cmd.status() {
    eprintln!("could not spawn {}: {}", cmd.get_program().to_string_lossy(), e);
    return;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling abstutil::must_run_cmd where the executable does not exist or isn't on PATH, lacks the execute bit, or the OS refuses to fork/exec the process.

Common situations: Tool like osmium or wget not installed on the machine; PATH not set in cron/CI environments; the binary exists but isn't executable; running in a slim container missing the dependency.

Related errors

• failed
• This build of A/B Street stores player data in…
• Can't find the data/ directory
• CityName::new( , ) has a country code that isn't two letters
• Couldn't read_json( )

AI-assisted analysis of a-b-street/abstreet@0964f29315 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fbb36f14fb4fa9ea. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at abstutil/src/process.rs:13

use std::process::Command;

/// Runs a command, asserts success. STDOUT and STDERR aren't touched.
pub fn must_run_cmd(cmd: &mut Command) {
    println!("- Running {:?}", cmd);
    match cmd.status() {
        Ok(status) => {
            if !status.success() {
                panic!("{:?} failed", cmd);
            }
        }
        Err(err) => {
            panic!("Failed to run {:?}: {:?}", cmd, err);
        }
    }
}

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