gastownhall/beads · error

empty executable basename for pid %d

Error message

empty executable basename for pid %d

What it means

On Linux, processExecutableBasename reads the /proc/<pid>/exe symlink target and returns its basename. If the target's basename is '.', the path separator, or empty, it cannot identify the executable, so this error is returned instead of a false verification match.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/dbproxy/proxy/process_executable_linux.go:24

	"errors"
	"fmt"
	"io/fs"
	"os"
	"path/filepath"
	"strconv"
)

func processExecutableBasename(pid int) (basename string, gone bool, err error) {
	target, err := os.Readlink("/proc/" + strconv.Itoa(pid) + "/exe")
	if err != nil {
		if errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
			return "", true, nil
		}
		return "", false, err
	}
	base := filepath.Base(target)
	if base == "." || base == string(filepath.Separator) || base == "" {
		return "", false, fmt.Errorf("empty executable basename for pid %d", pid)
	}
	return base, false, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Retry the lookup shortly after; transient /proc state usually resolves
2. Confirm the process is still alive before verification
3. Handle the error as 'cannot verify' and treat the stop as unverified rather than fatal

if _, err := os.Stat(fmt.Sprintf("/proc/%d", pid)); err != nil { /* pid gone */ }

func validBasename(b string) bool { return b != "" && b != "." && b != "/" }

base, exited, err := processExecutableBasename(pid)
if err != nil { /* re-check /proc/<pid> and retry once */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Reading /proc/<pid>/exe for a pid whose link target is empty or degenerate — usually the process exited and /proc entry is being torn down, or permission to read the link failed leaving an empty result.

Common situations: Race with process exit during force-stop verification; containerized environments where /proc/<pid>/exe is restricted; pid reuse mid-check.

Related errors

• procid: malformed proc stat: missing comm terminator
• procid: malformed proc stat: missing starttime
• procid: malformed proc stat starttime: %w
• capture proxy birth identity: %w
• read cmdline for pid %d: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0d89984495e1b7dd. Report an issue: GitHub.