affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

Codex invocation failed

Error message

Codex invocation failed: ${result.error.message}

What it means

This is the catch-all branch for spawnSync result.error codes other than ETIMEDOUT and ENOENT. Node can surface spawn failures such as EACCES (not executable), EPERM, or process-level errors; the library wraps the underlying message in 'Codex invocation failed: <message>' for diagnosis.

Solutions

  1. Read result.error.message in the thrown text to identify the exact errno code.
  2. For EACCES: chmod +x the codex binary or reinstall the CLI.
  3. For EPERM: check antivirus/endpoint policy or sandbox restrictions blocking child process execution.
  4. Reinstall the Codex CLI if the binary appears corrupted.
  5. Try invoking `codex --version` in the same shell/environment to reproduce outside the library.

Example fix

// before (binary not executable)
-rw-r--r-- codex
// after
chmod +x $(which codex)   # EACCES from spawn resolved
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const check = spawnSync('codex', ['--version']);
if (check.error && check.error.code === 'EACCES') {
  throw new Error('codex binary is not executable: chmod +x ' + check.error.path);
}

Try / catch

try {
  return runReview(opts);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith('Codex invocation failed:')) {
    const errno = e.message.split(': ')[1];
    if (errno === 'EACCES') fixExecutableBit();
    if (errno === 'EPERM') warnSandboxBlocked();
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: spawnSync returns result.error with any code besides 'ETIMEDOUT'/'ENOENT' — e.g. EACCES because the codex binary lacks the execute bit, EPERM from a security policy/sandbox blocking process spawn, or a killed process reported by Node.

Common situations: Codex CLI installed but not executable (permissions lost after copy/mount); corporate endpoint protection blocking spawned node children; running inside a container/sandbox that forbids exec; corrupted CLI install.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ab225f8fadd8e25e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at skills/council-multi-model/scripts/review-with-codex.js:215

  const remove = dependencies.rmSync || fs.rmSync;
  const tempDir = makeTemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'ecc-council-review-'));
  const outputFile = path.join(tempDir, 'last-message.txt');

  try {
    const result = spawn('codex', buildCodexArgs(tempDir, outputFile), {
      cwd: tempDir,
      env: environment,
      input: prompt,
      encoding: 'utf8',
      timeout: options.timeoutMs,
      maxBuffer: 1024 * 1024,
      windowsHide: true,
    });

    if (result.error) {
      if (result.error.code === 'ETIMEDOUT') throw new Error('Codex review timed out');
      if (result.error.code === 'ENOENT') throw new Error('Codex CLI is not installed');
      throw new Error(`Codex invocation failed: ${result.error.message}`);
    }
    if (result.status !== 0) {
      const detail = (result.stderr || '').trim().split('\n').slice(-1)[0];
      throw new Error(`Codex review failed${detail ? `: ${detail}` : ''}`);
    }

    let text;
    try {
      text = readFile(outputFile, 'utf8').trim();
    } catch (error) {
      throw new Error(`Codex returned no final response: ${error.message}`);
    }
    if (!text) throw new Error('Codex returned an empty final response');
    return `${providerLabel(options.hostProvider)}\n${text}`;
  } finally {
    remove(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 8321021c54)