can1357/oh-my-pi · error

Settings config is invalid and could not be moved aside: ${f

Error message

Settings config is invalid and could not be moved aside: ${filePath}; refusing to overwrite it: ${String(error)}

What it means

Thrown by #quarantineInvalidYamlLocked when the invalid settings YAML cannot be renamed to a .broken-* backup path (fs.rename failed). The loader will not overwrite a file it could not move aside, since that would irrecoverably destroy the user's (broken) settings. The original rename error is embedded via String(error).

Source

Thrown at packages/coding-agent/src/config/settings.ts:1473

		if (result.kind === "invalid") {
			result = await this.#quarantineInvalidYamlLocked(writePath, result);
			this.#quarantinedYamlTargets.set(filePath, writePath);
		}
		return {
			settings: this.#unwrapYamlLoadResult(filePath, result),
			generation,
		};
	}

	async #quarantineInvalidYamlLocked(
		filePath: string,
		result: Extract<YamlLoadResult, { kind: "invalid" }>,
	): Promise<Extract<YamlLoadResult, { kind: "invalid" }>> {
		const backupPath = `${filePath}.broken-${Date.now()}-${process.pid}-${randomUUID()}`;
		try {
			await fs.promises.rename(filePath, backupPath);
		} catch (error) {
			throw new Error(
				`Settings config is invalid and could not be moved aside: ${filePath}; refusing to overwrite it: ${String(error)}`,
			);
		}
		logger.warn("Settings: moved invalid config aside", {
			path: filePath,
			backupPath,
			error: String(result.error),
		});
		return { ...result, backupPath };
	}

	#unwrapYamlLoadResult(filePath: string, result: YamlLoadResult): RawSettings | null {
		switch (result.kind) {
			case "missing":
				return null;
			case "loaded":
				return result.settings;
			case "invalid":

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

1. Fix file permissions on the settings file and its directory (make writable by the running user)
2. Check for processes locking the file (editors, antivirus, sync clients) and retry
3. Manually rename or fix the invalid file, then re-run
4. Free disk space if the filesystem is full

Example fix

// before
$ ls -l ~/.omp/settings.yaml   # -r--r--r--
// after
$ chmod u+w ~/.omp/settings.yaml

async function settingsWritable(path) {
  try { await fs.promises.access(path, fs.constants.W_OK); return true; } catch { return false; }
}

try { await settings.load(); } catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes('could not be moved aside')) {
    logger.error('Fix permissions/locks on settings file, then retry', { error: e });
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Quarantine path executed while the settings file is not renamable: permission denied, read-only filesystem, the file is locked by the OS (Windows AV/indexer), or the directory is no longer writable.

Common situations: settings.yaml owned by another user or made read-only; synced/cloud folders holding ephemeral locks; disk full preventing directory updates.

Related errors

• Failed to read settings config ${filePath}: ${String(result.
• Settings config was invalid before locking and is now missin
• URL reads are disabled by settings.
• {}: {error}
• inter-device move failed: {} to {}; unable to remove target:

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a678c1bf10d4e183. Report an issue: GitHub.