benbjohnson/litestream · error

cannot read config: %w

Error message

cannot read config: %w

What it means

Wraps ReadConfigFile failure in the 'litestream reset' command. Fires when a -config path was supplied but the config file cannot be read or parsed (missing file, bad YAML, or env-expansion error), so the database's replica settings cannot be located for reset.

Source

Thrown at cmd/litestream/reset.go:51

	} else if fs.NArg() > 1 {
		return fmt.Errorf("too many arguments")
	}

	dbPath := fs.Arg(0)

	// Make absolute if needed
	if !filepath.IsAbs(dbPath) {
		if dbPath, err = filepath.Abs(dbPath); err != nil {
			return err
		}
	}

	// Load configuration to find the database (if config exists)
	var dbConfig *DBConfig
	if *configPath != "" {
		config, configErr := ReadConfigFile(*configPath, !*noExpandEnv)
		if configErr != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("cannot read config: %w", configErr)
		}

		// Find database config
		for _, dbc := range config.DBs {
			expandedPath := dbc.Path
			if !filepath.IsAbs(expandedPath) {
				expandedPath, _ = filepath.Abs(expandedPath)
			}
			if expandedPath == dbPath {
				dbConfig = dbc
				break
			}
		}
	}

	// If no config found, check if database file exists
	if _, err := os.Stat(dbPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
		return fmt.Errorf("database does not exist: %s", dbPath)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4ed7a308f6)

Solutions

1. Verify the config file path exists and is readable
2. Check the YAML syntax and any $VAR expansion references
3. Skip -config if resetting by direct database path

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/litestream/reset.go:51 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of benbjohnson/litestream@4ed7a308f6 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f448adc548a72267. Report an issue: GitHub.