apple/pkl · error

ioErrorResolvingGlob

ioErrorResolvingGlob

Error message

ioErrorResolvingGlob

What it means

When evaluating a Pkl glob import (e.g. import("glob:*.pkl")), CommandSpecParser.handleImport resolves matching modules. If an I/O error (file system failure, unreadable directory, closed stream) occurs while listing or reading files matched by the glob pattern, the evaluator wraps the IOException in this `ioErrorResolvingGlob` eval error, carrying the import URI and the original IOException as cause.

Source

Thrown at pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/runtime/CommandSpecParser.java:1204

    var globModuleKey = moduleResolver.resolve(importUri);

    try {
      if (!globModuleKey.isGlobbable()) {
        throw exceptionBuilder()
            .evalError("cannotGlobUri", importUri, importUri.getScheme())
            .build();
      }
      var resolvedElements =
          GlobResolver.resolveGlob(securityManager, globModuleKey, null, null, uriString);

      var builder = new VmObjectBuilder(resolvedElements.size());
      for (var entry : resolvedElements.entrySet()) {
        var moduleKey = moduleResolver.resolve(entry.getValue().uri());
        builder.addEntry(entry.getKey(), language.loadModule(moduleKey));
      }
      return builder.toMapping(resolvedElements);
    } catch (IOException e) {
      throw exceptionBuilder().evalError("ioErrorResolvingGlob", importUri).withCause(e).build();
    } catch (ExternalReaderProcessException e) {
      throw exceptionBuilder().evalError("externalReaderFailure").withCause(e).build();
    } catch (SecurityManagerException e) {
      throw exceptionBuilder().withCause(e).build();
    } catch (InvalidGlobPatternException e) {
      throw exceptionBuilder()
          .evalError("invalidGlobPattern", uriString)
          .withHint(e.getMessage())
          .build();
    }
  }

  // endregion
  // region utilities

  private static @Nullable String exportNullableString(VmObjectLike value, Object key) {
    var result = VmValue.export(VmUtils.readMember(value, key));
    return result instanceof PNull ? null : (String) result;

View on GitHub (pinned to f3efcbfc9b)

Solutions

1. Check the `caused by` IOException in the Pkl stack trace to see the actual filesystem error and fix that (permissions, missing directory, mount).
2. Verify every path in the glob import URI exists and is readable from the process running the Pkl evaluator.
3. Narrow the glob pattern so it only matches accessible locations; avoid globbing across network/unreliable mounts.
4. Re-run the evaluation after restoring the directory or fixing permissions.

Example fix

// before: importing files from a directory that may not exist
x = import("glob:etc/plugins/*.pkl")

// after: guard the directory with a List import or ensure it exists in the environment
x = if (List(import("file:///etc/plugins")).isEmpty) Map() else import("glob:etc/plugins/*.pkl")

// shell pre-check before running pkl
test -d "$(dirname "$glob_base")" && ls "$glob_base" >/dev/null || echo "glob target missing/unreadable"

// CLI: inspect the 'caused by' IOException on failure and retry after fixing filesystem access
pkl eval config.pkl || { grep -A2 'ioErrorResolvingGlob' pkl.log; exit 1; }

When it happens

Trigger: Resolving a glob import via GlobResolver.resolveGlob where the underlying I/O throws an IOException — e.g. the glob's base directory was deleted between resolution and read, a permissions problem on the filesystem, or an external-reader-backed glob returning a broken stream.

Common situations: Config evaluates `import("glob:configs/*.pkl")` while the directory was renamed/mounted differently; CI runners without read permission on the matched directory; globbing over network mounts that dropped mid-evaluation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to read file", EACCES, ENOENT and "could not read <path>" errors: when a program can't read a file from disk — this error's family across 49 libraries.

Related errors

• ioErrorWritingTestOutputFile
• ioErrorReadingTestOutputFile
• ioErrorLoadingModule
• ioErrorLoadingModule
• Failed to write to $depsFile: ${e.message}

AI-assisted analysis of apple/pkl@f3efcbfc9b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b2257071e0a62369. Report an issue: GitHub.