{"record":{"id":"c7c947fa78d7cfe1","repo":"EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin","slug":"could-not-read-filepath-error-instanceof-err","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Could not read ${filePath}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}","messagePattern":"Could not read (.+?): (.+?)","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"Error","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"src/dev/codex-dev.ts","lineNumber":119,"sourceCode":"  const result = await runner.run(command, args, options)\n  if (result.exitCode !== 0) {\n    const detail = result.stderr.trim() || result.stdout.trim() || `exit code ${result.exitCode}`\n    throw new Error(`${command} ${args.join(\" \")} failed: ${detail}`)\n  }\n  return result\n}\n\nfunction resolveHomePath(value: string, home: string): string {\n  if (value === \"~\") return home\n  if (value.startsWith(\"~/\")) return path.join(home, value.slice(2))\n  return path.resolve(value)\n}\n\nasync function readJson(filePath: string): Promise<Record<string, unknown>> {\n  try {\n    return JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(filePath, \"utf8\")) as Record<string, unknown>\n  } catch (error) {\n    throw new Error(`Could not read ${filePath}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`)\n  }\n}\n\nasync function assertCompoundEngineeringRepo(repoRoot: string): Promise<void> {\n  const packageJson = await readJson(path.join(repoRoot, \"package.json\"))\n  if (packageJson.name !== \"compound-engineering\") {\n    throw new Error(`${repoRoot} is not the compound-engineering repository`)\n  }\n  const pluginJson = await readJson(path.join(repoRoot, \".codex-plugin\", \"plugin.json\"))\n  if (pluginJson.name !== \"compound-engineering\") {\n    throw new Error(`${repoRoot} is not the compound-engineering repository`)\n  }\n\n  const skills = pluginJson.skills\n  if (typeof skills !== \"string\" || path.resolve(repoRoot, skills) !== path.join(repoRoot, \"skills\")) {\n    throw new Error(\"The Codex plugin manifest does not point at this repository's skills directory\")\n  }\n","sourceCodeStart":101,"sourceCodeEnd":137,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin/blob/c9c10f8c75412c7232cb2bd663e5fd1cea98d84e/src/dev/codex-dev.ts#L101-L137","documentation":"readJson wraps any failure from reading or JSON.parse-ing a JSON file (package.json or .codex-plugin/plugin.json) into a single Error that prefixes the file path with the underlying message. The library throws it so callers get one consistent error shape instead of raw ENOENT/ENOTDIR/SyntaxError noise from fs.readFile. The original cause is preserved in the message text via error.message or String(error).","triggerScenarios":"Calling packageJson() or pluginJson() (or readJson directly) when the file does not exist, the path is a directory, permissions deny read, or the file content is not valid JSON — any fs.readFile rejection or JSON.parse throw inside readJson at src/dev/codex-dev.ts:115.","commonSituations":"Running the codex:dev workflow outside a repo checkout so package.json is missing; a truncated or hand-edited plugin.json that fails to parse; a checkout with core.symlinks issues where .codex-plugin/plugin.json resolves to nothing; running from a worktree stripped of dot-directories.","solutions":["Verify the file exists at the printed path: ls <path from the error message>.","If missing, run the command from inside a compound-engineering checkout (git rev-parse --show-toplevel should show the repo root).","If present but unparseable, validate it: cat <path> | jq . — fix or git restore the JSON.","Check read permissions on the file if the message mentions EACCES."],"exampleFix":"// before: running tooling from an arbitrary directory\nbun run codex:dev -- status   // Could not read /home/user/package.json: ENOENT\n// after: cd into the checkout first\ncd ~/src/compound-engineering && bun run codex:dev -- status","handlingStrategy":"try-catch","validationCode":"import { stat, readFile } from \"node:fs/promises\"\nasync function assertReadableJson(p: string) {\n  const s = await stat(p)\n  if (!s.isFile()) throw new Error(`${p} is not a file`)\n  JSON.parse(await readFile(p, \"utf8\")) // throws SyntaxError before the call\n}","typeGuard":"function isRecord(v: unknown): v is Record<string, unknown> {\n  return typeof v === \"object\" && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v)\n}","tryCatchPattern":"try {\n  const pkg = await packageJson(repoRoot)\n} catch (error) {\n  if ((error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).cause) console.error(\"underlying fs/parse error:\", (error as Error).message)\n  console.error(`Run from the compound-engineering checkout; failed to read JSON: ${(error as Error).message}`)\n  process.exitCode = 1\n}","preventionTips":["Always run codex:dev commands from inside the plugin checkout.","Validate plugin.json/package.json with jq after hand edits.","Check the wrapped message for ENOENT vs SyntaxError to distinguish missing file from bad JSON."],"tags":["filesystem","json","config"],"backgroundTag":"file-not-found","analyzedSha":"c9c10f8c75412c7232cb2bd663e5fd1cea98d84e","analyzedAt":"2026-08-31T15:18:07.959Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-31T19:17:28.585Z"}