asdf-vm/asdf · error

unable to check if plugin exists: %w

Error message

unable to check if plugin exists: %w

What it means

Remove first calls PluginExists, which stats the plugin's directory under the data dir. If that stat fails with an error other than ErrNotExist (e.g. a permission problem on a parent directory), the error is wrapped with this message rather than treated as 'not installed'. It distinguishes 'could not inspect' from 'definitely missing'.

Source

Thrown at internal/plugins/plugins.go:439

	// Run post hooks
	hook.Run(config, "post_asdf_plugin_add", []string{plugin.Name})
	hook.Run(config, fmt.Sprintf("post_asdf_plugin_add_%s", plugin.Name), []string{})

	return nil
}

// Remove uninstalls a plugin by removing it from the file system if installed
func Remove(config config.Config, pluginName string, stdout, stderr io.Writer) error {
	err := validatePluginName(pluginName)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	plugin := New(config, pluginName)

	exists, err := PluginExists(config.DataDir, pluginName)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to check if plugin exists: %w", err)
	}

	if !exists {
		return fmt.Errorf("No such plugin: %s", pluginName)
	}

	hook.Run(config, "pre_asdf_plugin_remove", []string{plugin.Name})
	hook.Run(config, fmt.Sprintf("pre_asdf_plugin_remove_%s", plugin.Name), []string{})

	env := map[string]string{
		"ASDF_PLUGIN_PATH":       plugin.Dir,
		"ASDF_PLUGIN_SOURCE_URL": plugin.URL,
	}
	plugin.RunCallback("pre-plugin-remove", []string{}, env, stdout, stderr)

	pluginDir := data.PluginDirectory(config.DataDir, pluginName)
	downloadDir := data.DownloadDirectory(config.DataDir, pluginName)
	installDir := data.InstallDirectory(config.DataDir, pluginName)

View on GitHub (pinned to 074a1722ca)

Solutions

1. Check permissions on ASDF_DATA_DIR (~/.asdf) and its plugins/ directory; fix with chmod/chown
2. Verify ASDF_DATA_DIR points to a real, accessible directory
3. Retry the remove after fixing filesystem access

info, err := os.Stat(data.PluginDirectory(dataDir, name))
if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot inspect plugin dir: %w", err)
}

if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unable to check if plugin exists") {
    // handle filesystem access problem before retrying Remove
}

When it happens

Trigger: plugins.Remove when the os.Stat on data.PluginDirectory(dataDir, pluginName) fails with a non-ENOENT error (permissions, I/O error, path is weird).

Common situations: Running asdf without read permission on ASDF_DATA_DIR or the plugins directory, NFS/permission issues after switching users, or a data dir path that is a file instead of a directory.

Related errors

• unable to create download dir: %w
• unable to create install dir: %w
• unable to create file plugin index touch file: %w
• unable to check if plugin already exists: %w
• unable to create download dir: %w

AI-assisted analysis of asdf-vm/asdf@074a1722ca (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/053a6109b8812735. Report an issue: GitHub.