gitbutlerapp/gitbutler · warning

Failed to get app bundle name

Error message

Failed to get app bundle name

What it means

Thrown in install_app in install_macos.rs when app_dir.file_name() returns None, i.e. the extracted .app bundle path terminates in '..' or is a root path. extract_tarball returns a directory entry found via read_dir, which always has a normal file name, so this is a defensive guard against impossible paths rather than a realistic runtime failure.

Source

Thrown at crates/but-installer/src/install_macos.rs:73

    success("Download completed successfully");

    verify_signature(&tarball_path, &platform_info.signature, temp_dir.path())?;

    info("Extracting archive...");
    let app_dir = extract_tarball(&tarball_path, temp_dir.path())?;
    success("Archive extracted successfully");

    verify_app_structure(&app_dir)?;

    install_app(&app_dir, &config.home_dir, channel)?;

    Ok(())
}

pub(crate) fn install_app(app_dir: &Path, home_dir: &Path, channel: Option<Channel>) -> Result<()> {
    let app_basename = app_dir
        .file_name()
        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Failed to get app bundle name"))?;

    let install_app = home_dir.join("Applications").join(app_basename);
    let install_app_backup = home_dir
        .join("Applications")
        .join(format!("{}.backup", app_basename.to_string_lossy()));
    let install_app_new = home_dir
        .join("Applications")
        .join(format!("{}.new", app_basename.to_string_lossy()));

    info(&format!(
        "Installing{} to {}...",
        channel
            .map(|c| format!(" channel {}", c.display_name()))
            .unwrap_or_default(),
        install_app.display()
    ));

    // Clean up any leftover temp files from previous failed installations

View on GitHub (pinned to caf1f223d3)

Solutions

1. Call install_app with the directory returned by extract_tarball, not a hand-built path.
2. If invoking directly, pass a concrete .app directory path (e.g. .../GitButler.app), never a root or '..'-terminated path.

// Before install_app(app_dir, ...)
fn is_valid_app_dir(p: &std::path::Path) -> bool {
    p.file_name().map(|n| n.to_string_lossy().ends_with(".app")).unwrap_or(false)
}

When it happens

Trigger: app_dir being "/" or ending in ".." when install_app computes the destination bundle name under ~/Applications; only possible if a caller hand-constructs app_dir instead of using extract_tarball's output.

Common situations: Not observed in normal installs. Appears only in tests or custom code that calls install_app directly with a synthesized path; treat occurrences as a caller bug.

Related errors

• Failed to extract filename from download URL
• No .app bundle found in extracted archive
• Extracted app bundle does not contain expected directory str
• No download URL for platform {} in release {}
• Failed to move new installation into place - restoring backu

AI-assisted analysis of gitbutlerapp/gitbutler@caf1f223d3 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/19b7e001a4f0aa47. Report an issue: GitHub.