{"record":{"id":"67de27bacd862966","repo":"kovidgoyal/kitty","slug":"the-png-image-s-could-not-be-opened-with-error","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"The PNG image: %s could not be opened with error: %s","messagePattern":"The PNG image: (.+?) could not be opened with error: (.+?)","errorType":"console","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"kitty/graphics.c","lineNumber":567,"sourceCode":"        }\n        pos += fread(buf + pos, sizeof(char), capacity - pos, fp);\n        int saved_errno = errno;\n        if (ferror(fp) && saved_errno != EINTR) {\n            log_error(\"Failed while reading from file: %s with error: %s\", path_for_error_messages, strerror(saved_errno));\n            free(buf);\n            return false;\n        }\n    }\n    bool ret = png_from_data(buf, pos, path_for_error_messages, data, width, height, sz);\n    free(buf);\n    return ret;\n}\n\nbool\npng_path_to_bitmap(const char *path, uint8_t **data, unsigned int *width, unsigned int *height, size_t *sz) {\n    FILE *fp = fopen(path, \"r\");\n    if (fp == NULL) {\n        log_error(\"The PNG image: %s could not be opened with error: %s\", path, strerror(errno));\n        return false;\n    }\n    bool ret = png_from_file_pointer(fp, path, data, width, height, sz);\n    fclose(fp);\n    fp = NULL;\n    return ret;\n}\n\nbool\nimage_path_to_bitmap(const char *path, uint8_t **data, unsigned int *width, unsigned int *height, size_t *sz) {\n    *data = NULL;\n    *sz = 0;\n    *width = 0;\n    *height = 0;\n    RAII_PyObject(module, PyImport_ImportModule(\"kitty.render_cache\"));\n#define fail_on_python_error                                                           \\\n    {                                                                                  \\\n        log_error(\"Failed to convert image at %s to bitmap with python error:\", path); \\","sourceCodeStart":549,"sourceCodeEnd":585,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/blob/6d5d0c440603ad9bdf6dcd599f73f6dde21acb44/kitty/graphics.c#L549-L585","documentation":"png_path_to_bitmap could not fopen the given PNG path for reading; the strerror(errno) explains why (No such file or directory, Permission denied, etc.). Used for the default window icon, custom window icons, and is the first failure point of the PNG loading chain.","triggerScenarios":"set_default_window_icon / set_os_window_icon / config referencing a path that does not exist, is a directory, or lacks read permission; relative paths resolved against the wrong working directory.","commonSituations":"kitty.conf icon_path or background_image pointing to a moved/deleted file; '~/…' not expanded; config synced to another machine where the path differs; permissions changed after chmod; path contains a typo or trailing whitespace.","solutions":["Verify the file exists and is readable: ls -l /path/to/icon.png","Use an absolute path (expand ~ explicitly) in kitty.conf","Fix permissions: chmod u+r file, or correct ownership","Remove trailing spaces/quotes from the config line"],"exampleFix":"# before (kitty.conf)\nbackground_image ~/Pictures/bg png\n# after\nbackground_image /home/user/Pictures/bg.png","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"import os\n\ndef valid_image_path(p: str) -> bool:\n    p = os.path.expanduser(p)\n    return os.path.isfile(p) and os.access(p, os.R_OK)","typeGuard":"from pathlib import Path\n\ndef is_readable_png(path: str) -> bool:\n    p = Path(path).expanduser()\n    return p.is_file() and os.access(p, os.R_OK)","tryCatchPattern":null,"preventionTips":["Use absolute, expanded paths in kitty.conf","Validate icon/background paths in dotfile bootstrap scripts","Check for typos, stray quotes, and trailing whitespace in config lines"],"tags":["kitty","png","file-not-found","permissions","icon","config"],"backgroundTag":"image-file-not-found","analyzedSha":"6d5d0c440603ad9bdf6dcd599f73f6dde21acb44","analyzedAt":"2026-08-27T14:20:20.142Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-27T19:17:21.184Z"}