can1357/oh-my-pi · error · SortError

failed to open temporary file: {}

Error message

failed to open temporary file: {}

What it means

`SortError::OpenTmpFileFailed` is raised when the sort builtin cannot create/open one of its internal temporary files, carrying only the stripped errno. Sort uses temp files when the input exceeds memory limits, so this failure blocks large sorts.

Source

Thrown at crates/pi-builtins/src/sort.rs:2605

#[derive(Debug, Error)]
pub enum SortError {
	#[error("{0}")]
	Message(String),

	#[error("write failed: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	WriteFailed { path: OsString, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("{}", format_disorder(.file, .line_number, .line, .silent))]
	Disorder { file: OsString, line_number: usize, line: String, silent: bool },

	#[error("open failed: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	OpenFailed { path: PathBuf, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("cannot read: {}: {}", .path.maybe_quote(), strip_errno(.error))]
	ReadFailed { path: PathBuf, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("failed to open temporary file: {}", strip_errno(.error))]
	OpenTmpFileFailed { error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("could not run compress program '{}': {}", .prog, strip_errno(.error))]
	CompressProgExecutionFailed { prog: String, error: std::io::Error },

	#[error("{} terminated abnormally", .prog.quote())]
	CompressProgTerminatedAbnormally { prog: String },

	#[error("cannot create temporary file in {}:", .path.quote())]
	TmpFileCreationFailed { path: PathBuf },

	#[error("extra operand {}\nfile operands cannot be combined with --files0-from\nTry 'sort --help' for more information.", .file.quote())]
	FileOperandsCombined { file: PathBuf },


	#[error("multiple output files specified")]
	MultipleOutputFiles,

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

1. Free space on the temp filesystem or point TMPDIR to a larger mount.
2. Ensure TMPDIR exists and is writable by the current user.
3. Reduce memory buffer (`-S`) so the input fits in memory, avoiding temp files.
4. In containers, mount a writable tmpfs with sufficient size.

Example fix

// before
TMPDIR=/readonly sort -S 10M huge.txt

// after
TMPDIR=/var/tmp sort -S 10M huge.txt

let tmp = std::env::var_os("TMPDIR").unwrap_or_else(|| "/tmp".into());
let probe = std::env::temp_dir().join(".sort_probe");
if std::fs::write(&probe, b"x").is_err() {
    eprintln!("temp dir {tmp:?} is not writable; set TMPDIR appropriately");
}
let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&probe);

match sort_result {
    Err(SortError::OpenTmpFileFailed { error }) => {
        eprintln!("temp file open failed: {error}; check TMPDIR space/permissions");
    }
    Err(e) => eprintln!("sort: {e}"),
    Ok(_) => {}
}

When it happens

Trigger: Sorting input larger than the in-memory buffer, forcing a temp-file spill, when tmpdir creation/open fails (no space, unwritable TMPDIR, no temp dir available).

Common situations: ENOSPC on the temp filesystem; TMPDIR pointing somewhere read-only; sandboxed/containers with restricted /tmp.

Related errors

• failed to create a unique fc temporary file
• write failed: {}: {}
• open failed: {}: {}
• cannot read: {}: {}
• cannot create temporary file in {}:

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/36c989c93f014531. Report an issue: GitHub.