charmbracelet/crush · error

failed to create stdout log file: %v

Error message

failed to create stdout log file: %v

What it means

startDetachedServer redirects the detached server process's stdout to <chDir>/stdout.log by creating that file with os.Create. If creation fails, the error is wrapped as 'failed to create stdout log file' and the spawn is aborted.

Source

Thrown at internal/cmd/root.go:882

	}

	cmdArgs := []string{"server"}
	if clientHost != server.DefaultHost() {
		cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs, "--host", clientHost)
	}

	// Use context.Background() so the parent's context cancellation does not
	// kill the spawned server. detachProcess (Setsid on !windows,
	// DETACHED_PROCESS on windows) is what truly detaches the child from
	// this process's lifetime.
	c := exec.CommandContext(context.Background(), exe, cmdArgs...)
	stdoutPath := filepath.Join(chDir, "stdout.log")
	stderrPath := filepath.Join(chDir, "stderr.log")
	detachProcess(c)

	stdout, err := os.Create(stdoutPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create stdout log file: %v", err)
	}
	defer stdout.Close()
	c.Stdout = stdout

	stderr, err := os.Create(stderrPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create stderr log file: %v", err)
	}
	defer stderr.Close()
	c.Stderr = stderr

	if err := c.Start(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to start crush server: %v", err)
	}

	if err := c.Process.Release(); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to detach crush server process: %v", err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 7944b8e522)

Solutions

1. Check writability of the per-host server directory and fix permissions (chown/chmod) or run as the correct user.
2. Free disk space / clear quota if the filesystem is full; consider truncating huge old stdout.log files.
3. Remove any file/directory incorrectly occupying the stdout.log path.
4. Point the cache directory at a writable location via the appropriate env (XDG_CACHE_HOME).

logPath := filepath.Join(chDir, "stdout.log")
if info, err := os.Lstat(logPath); err == nil && info.IsDir() {
	return fmt.Errorf("%s is a directory; remove it before starting", logPath)
}
if err := checkDirWritable(chDir); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("server dir not writable: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: os.Create(stdoutPath) fails: the per-host dir is unwritable, the disk is full, a directory named stdout.log exists, or security software blocks file creation in the cache dir.

Common situations: Read-only cache filesystem in containers; disk quota exceeded from oversized existing stdout.log files; permission drift after running as another user; logs dir managed/mounted specially.

Related errors

• failed to create stderr log file: %v
• failed to create parent directories: %w
• failed to create output file: %w
• failed to access file: %w
• failed to create parent directories: %w

AI-assisted analysis of charmbracelet/crush@7944b8e522 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/dc5c715b7fa64db2. Report an issue: GitHub.