denoland/deno · error · AnyError

Unsupported archive type: '{ext}'

Error message

Unsupported archive type: '{ext}'

What it means

`unpack_into_dir` dispatches solely on the extension of `archive_name` and implements only the `zip` arm; every other extension is rejected before any bytes are read. Because Deno's own release artifacts are zips, end users should rarely see this — it usually means a custom feed or API caller supplied a tar/tar.gz/7z artifact where a zip was expected.

Source

Thrown at cli/util/archive.rs:112

  let archive_ext = Path::new(archive_name)
    .extension()
    .and_then(|ext| ext.to_str())
    .unwrap();
  match archive_ext {
    "zip" => match unzip(archive_name, archive_data, dest_path) {
      Ok(()) if !exe_path.exists() => {
        log::warn!("unpacking via the zip crate didn't produce the executable");
        // No error but didn't produce exe, fallback to shelling out
        unzip_with_shell(&archive_path, archive_data, dest_path)?;
      }
      Ok(_) => {}
      Err(e) => {
        log::warn!("unpacking via zip crate failed: {e}");
        // Fallback to shelling out
        unzip_with_shell(&archive_path, archive_data, dest_path)?;
      }
    },
    ext => bail!("Unsupported archive type: '{ext}'"),
  }

  assert!(exe_path.exists());
  Ok(exe_path)
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
  use std::io::Write;

  use super::*;

  fn make_zip(file_name: &str, contents: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
    let mut buf = Vec::new();
    let mut writer = zip::ZipWriter::new(std::io::Cursor::new(&mut buf));
    writer
      .start_file(file_name, zip::write::SimpleFileOptions::default())
      .unwrap();

View on GitHub (pinned to 9ad36f7a2c)

Solutions

1. Re-package or fetch the artifact as a .zip (Deno publishes zips for its binaries).
2. If scripting against the API, assert the extension is `zip` before calling `unpack_into_dir`.
3. If a zip was expected, inspect the actual download URL/response — a proxy or redirect may be serving something else under a different filename.

Example fix

// before
let exe = unpack_into_dir(UnpackArgs { archive_name: "deno.tar.gz", ..args })?;

// after: only the zip arm exists
let exe = unpack_into_dir(UnpackArgs { archive_name: "deno.zip", ..args })?;

// reject unsupported archives before calling unpack_into_dir
let ext = std::path::Path::new(archive_name)
  .extension()
  .and_then(|e| e.to_str());
if ext != Some("zip") {
  return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("only .zip archives are supported"));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `unpack_into_dir` (directly, or via Deno install/upgrade machinery pointed at a custom source) with an `archive_name` whose extension is not exactly `zip` — e.g. `deno.tar.gz`, `deno.tgz`, or an artifact whose filename lost its extension.

Common situations: Custom upgrade feeds or mirrors serving .tar.gz instead of .zip; test fixtures with misnamed archives; a download URL that redirects to an error page whose 'filename' has a different extension.

Related errors

• Failed to unpack archive.
• unsupported archive format: {name}
• refusing to add {} to tarball: {}
• tar entry '{}' has invalid offset/size (offset={}, size={})
• refusing zip entry with unsafe path: {}

AI-assisted analysis of denoland/deno@9ad36f7a2c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb709cd22769f1b5. Report an issue: GitHub.