benbjohnson/litestream · error

create temp database path: %w

Error message

create temp database path: %w

What it means

Restore could not create the temporary file (<output>.tmp) that results are compacted into before the atomic rename. Permission denial in the output directory or a name collision with a leftover .tmp file.

Source

Thrown at replica.go:734

	}

	// Create parent directory if it doesn't exist.
	var dirInfo os.FileInfo
	if db := r.DB(); db != nil {
		dirInfo = db.dirInfo
	}
	if err := internal.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(opt.OutputPath), dirInfo); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("create parent directory: %w", err)
	}

	// Output to temp file & atomically rename.
	tmpOutputPath := opt.OutputPath + ".tmp"
	r.Logger().Debug("compacting into database", "path", tmpOutputPath, "n", len(rdrs))
	defer func() { _ = os.Remove(tmpOutputPath) }()

	f, err := os.Create(tmpOutputPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("create temp database path: %w", err)
	}
	defer func() { _ = f.Close() }()

	pr, pw := io.Pipe()

	go func() {
		c, err := ltx.NewCompactor(pw, rdrs)
		if err != nil {
			pw.CloseWithError(fmt.Errorf("new ltx compactor: %w", err))
			return
		}
		c.HeaderFlags = ltx.HeaderFlagNoChecksum
		_ = pw.CloseWithError(c.Compact(ctx))
	}()

	dec := ltx.NewDecoder(pr)
	if err := dec.DecodeDatabaseTo(f); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("decode database: %w", err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4ed7a308f6)

Solutions

1. Check write permissions on the output directory
2. Remove a stale <output>.tmp left by a crashed restore

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at replica.go:734 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/749a152f6c99410d. Report an issue: GitHub.