charmbracelet/gum · error

failed to run write: %w

Error message

failed to run write: %w

What it means

gum write could not run its Bubble Tea program (the interactive textarea). The underlying tea error is wrapped with %w. Without the TUI, the text input cannot be collected, so the command aborts.

Source

Thrown at write/command.go:79

		help:        help.New(),
		showHelp:    o.ShowHelp,
		keymap:      defaultKeymap(),
		padding:     []int{top, right, bottom, left},
	}

	m.textarea.KeyMap.InsertNewline = m.keymap.InsertNewline

	ctx, cancel := timeout.Context(o.Timeout)
	defer cancel()

	p := tea.NewProgram(
		m,
		tea.WithOutput(os.Stderr),
		tea.WithContext(ctx),
	)
	tm, err := p.Run()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to run write: %w", err)
	}
	m = tm.(model)
	if !m.submitted {
		return errors.New("not submitted")
	}
	fmt.Println(m.textarea.Value())
	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4d089f9550)

Solutions

1. Run gum write in an interactive terminal
2. Verify the calling context isn't cancelled before the program runs
3. Use `gum write --placeholder ...` only in TTY-capable environments; fall back to plain read for non-TTY
4. Inspect the wrapped %w cause to identify the specific tea failure

Example fix

// before
nohup ./script-using-gum-write.sh &   # no TTY → fails
// after
if [ -t 0 ]; then text=$(gum write); else read -r text; fi

[ -t 0 ] && [ -t 2 ] || { echo 'gum write requires an interactive terminal'; exit 1; }

if ! text=$(gum write 2>/dev/null); then
  echo 'write cancelled or TUI failed' >&2
  exit 1
fi

When it happens

Trigger: `p.Run()` on the tea program returns an error: no TTY, context cancelled before/during run, output initialization to os.Stderr fails, or terminal capability issues.

Common situations: Running `gum write` in CI or non-interactive scripts, cancelling via Ctrl-C combined with context propagation, detached sessions (cron, nohup) with no terminal attached.

Related errors

• unable to start program: %w
• failed to start tea program: %w
• unable to run filter: %w
• unable to run action: %w
• failed to get selection

AI-assisted analysis of charmbracelet/gum@4d089f9550 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/af533e136bae8c58. Report an issue: GitHub.