ajeetdsouza/zoxide · error · anyhow::Error

could not deserialize database: corrupted data

Error message

could not deserialize database: corrupted data

What it means

Error "could not deserialize database: corrupted data" thrown in ajeetdsouza/zoxide.

Source

Thrown at src/db/mod.rs:216

            // Serialize sections into buffer.
            bincode::serialize_into(&mut buffer, &Self::VERSION)?;
            bincode::serialize_into(&mut buffer, &dirs)?;

            Ok(buffer)
        })()
        .context("could not serialize database")
    }

    fn deserialize(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Vec<Dir<'_>>> {
        // Assume a maximum size for the database. This prevents bincode from throwing
        // strange errors when it encounters invalid data.
        const MAX_SIZE: u64 = 32 << 20; // 32 MiB
        let deserializer = &mut bincode::options().with_fixint_encoding().with_limit(MAX_SIZE);

        // Split bytes into sections.
        let version_size = deserializer.serialized_size(&Self::VERSION).unwrap() as _;
        if bytes.len() < version_size {
            bail!("could not deserialize database: corrupted data");
        }
        let (bytes_version, bytes_dirs) = bytes.split_at(version_size);

        // Deserialize sections.
        let version = deserializer.deserialize(bytes_version)?;
        let dirs = match version {
            Self::VERSION => {
                deserializer.deserialize(bytes_dirs).context("could not deserialize database")?
            }
            version => {
                bail!("unsupported version (got {version}, supports {})", Self::VERSION)
            }
        };

        Ok(dirs)
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 8a3f76da90)

Solutions

1. Restore the database from a backup if available
2. Delete the corrupted database file and let zoxide recreate it (ranking history will be lost)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/db/mod.rs:216 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ajeetdsouza/zoxide@8a3f76da90 (2026-08-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ac9538329309064a. Report an issue: GitHub.