abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus · error

Failed to list repos

Error message

Failed to list repos

What it means

HTTP 500 from GET /api/repos when listRegisteredRepos() throws while reading the repository registry — the catch forwards err.message if present, else this generic text. The registry is the on-disk record of indexed repositories; this 500 means it could not be read at all (corrupt file, missing storage directory, permission problem), not that the list is empty (an empty list returns 200 with []).

Source

Thrown at gitnexus/src/server/api.ts:945

    res.json({ version: pkg.version, launchContext, nodeVersion: process.version });
  });

  // List all registered repos
  app.get('/api/repos', async (_req, res) => {
    try {
      const repos = await listRegisteredRepos();
      res.json(
        repos.map((r) => ({
          name: r.name,
          path: r.path,
          repoPath: r.path,
          indexedAt: r.indexedAt,
          lastCommit: r.lastCommit,
          stats: r.stats,
        })),
      );
    } catch (err: any) {
      res.status(500).json({ error: err.message || 'Failed to list repos' });
    }
  });

  // Get repo info
  // Rate-limited (CodeQL js/missing-rate-limiting): resolveRepo canonicalizes
  // the attacker-supplied ?repo= param (realpathSync probe for absolute /
  // Windows-shaped claims). Default 60 rpm/IP — web callers hit this route
  // only on connect/switch, never in a polling loop.
  app.get('/api/repo', createRouteLimiter(), async (req, res) => {
    try {
      const entry = await resolveRepo(requestedRepo(req), false, req);
      if (!entry) {
        res.status(404).json({ error: 'Repository not found. Run: gitnexus analyze' });
        return;
      }
      // Timed out waiting for an active analysis job
      if (entry.__timedOut) {
        res.status(503).json({

View on GitHub (pinned to aac7515d2a)

Solutions

1. Check the error field in the response body and the server log — the forwarded err.message names the failing path or parse error
2. Re-run `gitnexus analyze` in your repo to rewrite the registry with a known-good entry
3. Fix permissions/ownership on the config/storage directory for the user running serve
4. If the registry file is corrupt, remove it and re-register the repos you need (they will re-analyze)

async function listReposSafe(base: string, tries = 2) {
  for (let i = 0; i < tries; i++) {
    const res = await fetch(`${base}/api/repos`);
    if (res.ok) return res.json();
    if (res.status !== 500) throw new Error(`repos listing failed: ${res.status}`);
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2000)); // transient registry read issue? retry once
  }
  throw new Error('registry unreadable — re-run gitnexus analyze to rebuild it');
}

When it happens

Trigger: Corrupt or truncated registry JSON (process killed mid-write); the storage/config directory deleted or made unreadable; filesystem permission changes (running serve under a different user); concurrent registry mutation racing the read on some platforms.

Common situations: Killing gitnexus serve or analyze mid-write leaving a half-written registry; moving or renaming the home/config directory where storage lives; running the server under systemd/docker with a volume mounted read-only; multi-process setups where one process rewrote the registry in a format the other cannot parse.

Related errors

• Upload failed
• File not found
• Query failed
• "path" must be a string
• "path" must be an absolute path

AI-assisted analysis of abhigyanpatwari/GitNexus@aac7515d2a (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3336e2610838678d. Report an issue: GitHub.