astrid-runtime/astrid · error

failed to format config: {e}

Error message

failed to format config: {e}

What it means

Wraps an error from `resolved.show(show_format, section)` — the resolved configuration could not be rendered in the requested format (JSON or TOML). The CLI re-throws it with a uniform prefix so `astrid config show` failures are identifiable. It indicates the config data is present but cannot be serialized/formatted for display.

Source

Thrown at crates/astrid-cli/src/commands/config.rs:21

use anyhow::Result;
use astrid_config::{Config, ResolvedConfig, ShowFormat};

/// Show the resolved configuration with source annotations.
pub(crate) fn show_config(format: &str, section: Option<&str>) -> Result<()> {
    let workspace_root = std::env::current_dir().ok();
    let resolved = Config::load_with_layout(
        workspace_root.as_deref(),
        crate::workspace_layout::current(),
    )?;

    let show_format = match format {
        "json" => ShowFormat::Json,
        _ => ShowFormat::Toml,
    };

    let output = resolved
        .show(show_format, section)
        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("failed to format config: {e}"))?;

    println!("{output}");
    Ok(())
}

/// Validate the current configuration.
#[expect(clippy::unnecessary_wraps)]
pub(crate) fn validate_config() -> Result<()> {
    let workspace_root = std::env::current_dir().ok();

    match Config::load_with_layout(
        workspace_root.as_deref(),
        crate::workspace_layout::current(),
    ) {
        Ok(resolved) => {
            println!("Configuration is valid.");
            if !resolved.loaded_files.is_empty() {
                println!("\nLoaded files:");

View on GitHub (pinned to affd8760f4)

Solutions

1. Run `astrid config show` without --format (default TOML) to see if the default formatter succeeds.
2. Validate the config with `astrid config validate` to find the offending value, then fix config.toml.
3. Check for recent manual edits or overrides that introduced unrepresentable values and revert them.
4. If the wrapped {e} names a specific key, correct that key's type/value in ~/.astrid/etc/config.toml.

Example fix

// before
let output = resolved
    .show(show_format, section)
    .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("failed to format config: {e}"))?;
// after
let output = resolved.show(ShowFormat::Toml, None)
    .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("failed to format config: {e}"))?;

// preflight: parse the raw TOML before rendering
if let Err(e) = toml::from_str::<toml::Value>(&std::fs::read_to_string("~/.astrid/etc/config.toml")?) {
    eprintln!("config.toml not parseable: {e}");
}

match resolved.show(fmt, section) {
    Err(e) => {
        eprintln!("failed to format config ({e}); falling back to TOML");
        resolved.show(ShowFormat::Toml, None)
    }
    ok => ok,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `astrid config show --format json` (or toml) where the resolved config contains values that the formatter rejects, or requesting a section that cannot be rendered in the chosen format.

Common situations: Hand-edited config.toml introduces a value type the TOML/JSON serializer cannot represent; a user selects json format but a section only supports TOML rendering; config built from mixed override layers yields an unrepresentable value.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid value" and "allowed values are" config errors: what your library rejected and how to fix it — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• invalid value for {capsule_id}.{key}: expected one of {}, go
• editor '{editor}' exited with non-zero status
• ASTRID_ENFORCED_DISTRO must not be empty
• Failed to resolve Astrid home: {e}
• {name} not found. Ensure it is installed alongside the astri

AI-assisted analysis of astrid-runtime/astrid@affd8760f4 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d381fb871cbd237f. Report an issue: GitHub.