{"record":{"id":"004c3720f559f2fe","repo":"mvanhorn/last30days-skill","slug":"last30days-cannot-read-synthesis-file-exc-n","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"[last30days] Cannot read --synthesis-file: {exc}\\n","messagePattern":"\\[last30days\\] Cannot read --synthesis-file: (.+?)\\\\n","errorType":"console","errorClass":"SystemExit","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"skills/last30days/scripts/last30days.py","lineNumber":500,"sourceCode":"\n\ndef compute_output_path_display(output_file: str) -> str:\n    \"\"\"Compute the user-friendly explicit output path shown in render footers.\"\"\"\n    raw = Path(output_file).expanduser().resolve()\n    try:\n        home = Path.home().resolve()\n        relative = raw.relative_to(home)\n        return f\"~/{relative.as_posix()}\"\n    except ValueError:\n        return raw.as_posix()\n\n\ndef read_synthesis_file(path: str) -> str:\n    try:\n        return Path(path).expanduser().read_text(encoding=\"utf-8\")\n    except OSError as exc:\n        sys.stderr.write(f\"[last30days] Cannot read --synthesis-file: {exc}\\n\")\n        raise SystemExit(2)\n\n\ndef _scoped_store_db(args: argparse.Namespace) -> Path | None:\n    \"\"\"Scoped runs write findings inside the save dir, matching scoped reads.\"\"\"\n    save_dir = getattr(args, \"save_dir\", None)\n    if save_dir:\n        return Path(save_dir).expanduser().resolve() / \"research.db\"\n    return None\n\n\ndef persist_report(report: schema.Report, store_db: Path | None = None) -> dict[str, int]:\n    import store\n\n    private_corpus = _report_has_private_corpus(report)\n    with store.scoped_db(store_db):\n        if private_corpus:\n            store.ensure_private_db_files()\n        store.init_db()","sourceCodeStart":482,"sourceCodeEnd":518,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill/blob/c7460f6114449ddfe6ea3fc2f23c3d910c0e740c/skills/last30days/scripts/last30days.py#L482-L518","documentation":"read_synthesis_file() loads the --synthesis-file argument with Path.expanduser().read_text(encoding='utf-8'); any OSError (missing file, permission denied, is-a-directory, unreadable bytes triggering UnicodeDecodeError-as-OSError variants) prints a [last30days] error to stderr and exits with status 2 before any search runs.","triggerScenarios":"Passing --synthesis-file ~/notes/synth.md when the path does not exist, is a directory, or lacks read permission; tilde paths work (expanduser) but relative paths resolve against the process cwd, not the caller's intent.","commonSituations":"Agent writes the synthesis to a temp path that was cleaned up before the engine subprocess starts; typo in the path; file created by another user with restrictive permissions.","solutions":["Verify the file exists and is readable before invoking: ls -l on the exact path.","Use an absolute path (or a tilde path) for --synthesis-file to avoid cwd mismatch.","If generated programmatically, ensure the write completes (and fsync/close) before the engine is spawned."],"exampleFix":"# before\n--synthesis-file /tmp/synth-$(date +%s).md   # deleted by temp cleanup\n\n# after\nSYNTH=$(mktemp /tmp/synth-XXXX.md) && cp prepared.md \"$SYNTH\" && \\\n  python3 last30days.py topic --synthesis-file \"$SYNTH\"","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"p = Path(path).expanduser()\nif not p.is_file():\n    raise FileNotFoundError(f'--synthesis-file {p} does not exist')\nif not os.access(p, os.R_OK):\n    raise PermissionError(f'--synthesis-file {p} is not readable')","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"try:\n    synth = read_synthesis_file(path)\nexcept SystemExit:\n    raise SystemExit(f'check --synthesis-file path/permissions: {path}')","preventionTips":["Use absolute paths for file arguments.","Ensure generated synthesis files are fully written before spawning the engine."],"tags":["cli","filesystem","synthesis","arguments"],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"c7460f6114449ddfe6ea3fc2f23c3d910c0e740c","analyzedAt":"2026-08-15T03:34:49.540Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-15T22:17:37.221Z"}