charmbracelet/crush · error

failed to initialize config: %w

Error message

failed to initialize config: %w

What it means

sessionSetup initializes configuration via config.Init before any session subcommand (list/show/delete/rename/last) runs. If config loading or validation fails, the setup is aborted and this wrapped error is returned, stopping the subcommand.

Source

Thrown at internal/cmd/session.go:113

	sessionCmd.AddCommand(sessionShowCmd)
	sessionCmd.AddCommand(sessionLastCmd)
	sessionCmd.AddCommand(sessionDeleteCmd)
	sessionCmd.AddCommand(sessionRenameCmd)
}

type sessionServices struct {
	sessions session.Service
	messages message.Service
	cfg      *config.ConfigStore
}

func sessionSetup(cmd *cobra.Command) (context.Context, *sessionServices, func(), error) {
	dataDir, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("data-dir")
	ctx := cmd.Context()

	cfg, err := config.Init("", dataDir, false)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize config: %w", err)
	}
	if dataDir == "" {
		dataDir = cfg.Config().Options.DataDirectory
	}
	if shouldEnableMetrics(cfg.Config()) {
		event.Init()
	}

	conn, err := db.Connect(ctx, dataDir)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to database: %w", err)
	}

	queries := db.New(conn)
	svc := &sessionServices{
		sessions: session.NewService(queries, conn),
		messages: message.NewService(queries),
		cfg:      cfg,

View on GitHub (pinned to 7944b8e522)

Solutions

1. Run `crush` or the config validation command to see the underlying validation error from the wrapped chain
2. Validate JSON syntax of crush.json / crushrc (jq . or bash -n)
3. Check file permissions on the config file and the data directory
4. Temporarily move the config aside and rerun to confirm it is the config content vs environment

// validate config before invoking the command
if _, err := os.Stat(configPath); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("config file missing: %w", err)
}
if f, err := os.Open(configPath); err == nil {
    defer f.Close()
    if err := json.NewDecoder(f).Decode(&struct{}{}); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("invalid config JSON: %w", err)
    }
}

cfg, err := config.Init("", dataDir, false)
if err != nil {
    slog.Error("Config initialization failed", "error", err)
    os.Exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: config.Init("", dataDir, false) fails: malformed crushrc/crush.json, unreadable config file, invalid provider or options in config, or filesystem permission errors on the data directory.

Common situations: Syntax error in ~/.config/crush/crush.json or crushrc after hand-editing; CRUSH_DATA_DIR pointing to a non-writable path; deprecated/unknown keys left in config after a version upgrade.

Related errors

• cannot continue an agent tool session: %s
• session not found: %s
• cannot continue a child session: %s
• no sessions found to continue
• failed to override models: %w

AI-assisted analysis of charmbracelet/crush@7944b8e522 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1ab73658a7554a63. Report an issue: GitHub.