charmbracelet/crush · error

failed to initialize config: %w

Error message

failed to initialize config: %w

What it means

After resolving the workspace key, CreateWorkspace initializes the config service via config.Init(path, dataDir, debug). Any error loading/validating crushrc or crush.json for that workspace is wrapped with this message.

Source

Thrown at internal/backend/backend.go:416

		b.pending--
		// If this create ended up registering nothing (it failed, or
		// deduped onto an existing workspace that has since gone) and
		// it was holding the last teardown back, the server may now be
		// idle with no pending work. Arm the idle-shutdown timer here so
		// a failed create racing the last teardown does not leak an
		// empty server that a plain teardown already declined to reap.
		shutdownNow := b.scheduleShutdownIfIdleLocked()
		b.mu.Unlock()
		if shutdownNow {
			slog.Info("No workspaces remain after create settled, shutting down server...")
			b.shutdownFn()
		}
	}()

	id := uuid.New().String()
	cfg, err := config.Init(args.Path, args.DataDir, args.Debug)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, proto.Workspace{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to initialize config: %w", err)
	}

	cfg.Overrides().SkipPermissionRequests = args.YOLO
	cfg.Overrides().EnabledChannels = args.Channels

	if err := createDotCrushDir(cfg.Config().Options.DataDirectory); err != nil {
		return nil, proto.Workspace{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to create data directory: %w", err)
	}

	conn, err := db.Connect(b.ctx, cfg.Config().Options.DataDirectory, db.WithDataDirLock(true))
	if err != nil {
		return nil, proto.Workspace{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to database: %w", err)
	}

	// Discover skills once per workspace, before app.New. The backend
	// hosts multiple workspaces concurrently, so the manager is
	// constructed WITHOUT WithGlobalMirror to prevent last-writer-wins
	// cross-talk between workspaces.

View on GitHub (pinned to 7944b8e522)

Solutions

1. Run 'crush' interactively or validate the config to see the underlying wrapped error and fix it
2. Fix syntax errors in crushrc / crush.json (deprecated but still parsed)
3. Check file permissions on the config file and data directory

Example fix

// before (crushrc)
provider anthropic
  model claude
  # unclosed block
// after
provider "anthropic"
  model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4"
end

ws, err := b.CreateWorkspace(ctx, args)
if err != nil {
    var cfgErr = "failed to initialize config"
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), cfgErr) {
        // surface underlying %w cause to user, e.g. run config validation
        return fmt.Errorf("workspace config invalid: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: config.Init fails because the workspace's crushrc/crush.json has a syntax error, fails schema validation, or cannot be read (permissions), or the data directory is unusable.

Common situations: Malformed crushrc bash syntax; invalid JSON in crush.json; unsupported/unknown keys after version upgrades; unreadable config file permissions.

Related errors

• agent coordinator not initialized
• failed to create app workspace: %w
• failed to initialize agent: %w
• config not loaded
• no workspace config path configured

AI-assisted analysis of charmbracelet/crush@7944b8e522 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f8c9165c985cd8cf. Report an issue: GitHub.