bytedance/deer-flow · error · HTTPException

Failed to update user profile: {str(e)}

Error message

Failed to update user profile: {str(e)}

What it means

Catch-all 500 on PUT `/user-profile`: writing USER.md failed. The handler mkdirs `paths.base_dir` then `write_text`s the content; failures are permission errors creating/writing the directory, disk full, or read-only mounts. Unlike reads, no graceful path exists — a failed write is always a 500 with the cause logged.

Source

Thrown at backend/app/gateway/routers/agents.py:529

    """Create or overwrite the global USER.md.

    Args:
        request: The update request with the new USER.md content.

    Returns:
        UserProfileResponse with the saved content.
    """
    _require_agents_api_enabled()

    try:
        paths = get_paths()
        paths.base_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
        paths.user_md_file.write_text(request.content, encoding="utf-8")
        logger.info(f"Updated USER.md at {paths.user_md_file}")
        return UserProfileResponse(content=request.content or None)
    except Exception as e:
        logger.error(f"Failed to update user profile: {e}", exc_info=True)
        raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=f"Failed to update user profile: {str(e)}")


@router.delete(
    "/agents/{name}",
    status_code=204,
    summary="Delete Custom Agent",
    description="Delete a custom agent and all its files (config, SOUL.md, memory).",
)
async def delete_agent(name: str) -> None:
    """Delete a custom agent.

    Args:
        name: The agent name.

    Raises:
        HTTPException: 404 if no per-user copy exists; 409 if only a legacy
            shared copy exists (suggesting the migration script).
    """

View on GitHub (pinned to 1dd6ba1acb)

Solutions

1. Confirm the Gateway process user can create and write under base_dir (`sudo -u <user> touch <base_dir>/probe`)
2. Mount the profile directory writable, or relocate base_dir to writable storage
3. Free disk space / adjust SELinux or AppArmor policy as the traceback indicates

try { return await api.updateUserProfile(content); }
catch (e) {
  if (e.status === 500 && /update user profile/.test(e.detail)) {
    toast('Could not save profile — server storage is not writable');
    keepLocalDraft(content); // don't lose the user's text
    return;
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: base_dir on a read-only volume; Gateway process lacking write permission on the data dir; ENOSPC; SELinux denying writes.

Common situations: Hardened container deployments with immutable config mounts; first write after a permissions migration; disk-full incidents.

Related errors

• Failed to read user profile: {str(e)}
• Failed to clear memory data.
• Failed to delete local thread data.
• Failed to list agents: {str(e)}
• Failed to get agent: {str(e)}

AI-assisted analysis of bytedance/deer-flow@1dd6ba1acb (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/40774c1bfceb9864. Report an issue: GitHub.