google-gemini/gemini-cli · error

Failed to find session "${trimmedResumeArg}": ${error instan

Error message

Failed to find session "${trimmedResumeArg}": ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}

What it means

Thrown when resuming a session by identifier and this.findSession(trimmedResumeArg) throws an error that is NOT a SessionError (those are rethrown unchanged). It wraps unexpected/low-level errors (filesystem, JSON parse, permission) with the identifier that was requested for diagnosis.

Source

Thrown at packages/cli/src/utils/sessionUtils.ts:527

      }

      // Sort by startTime (oldest first, so newest sessions get highest numbers)
      sessions.sort(
        (a, b) =>
          new Date(a.startTime).getTime() - new Date(b.startTime).getTime(),
      );

      selectedSession = sessions[sessions.length - 1];
    } else {
      try {
        selectedSession = await this.findSession(trimmedResumeArg);
      } catch (error) {
        // SessionError already has detailed messages - just rethrow
        if (error instanceof SessionError) {
          throw error;
        }
        // Wrap unexpected errors with context
        throw new Error(
          `Failed to find session "${trimmedResumeArg}": ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`,
        );
      }
    }

    return this.selectSession(selectedSession);
  }

  /**
   * Loads session data for a selected session.
   */
  private async selectSession(
    sessionInfo: SessionInfo,
  ): Promise<SessionSelectionResult> {
    const chatsDir = path.join(this.storage.getProjectTempDir(), 'chats');
    const sessionPath = path.join(chatsDir, sessionInfo.fileName);

    try {

View on GitHub (pinned to 5024443c72)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped error message (after the colon) to identify the underlying cause (ENOENT, EACCES, SyntaxError).
2. Verify the chats directory (storage.getProjectTempDir()/chats) is readable and not corrupted.
3. If a specific session file is corrupt, remove or restore it, then retry the resume.
4. If the identifier is wrong, double-check it against the session list (`--list-sessions` or equivalent).

// Validate the identifier format and chats dir accessibility before resuming.
const fs = require('fs');
const chatsDir = path.join(storage.getProjectTempDir(), 'chats');
fs.accessSync(chatsDir, fs.constants.R_OK);

try {
  selectedSession = await manager.findSession(id);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof SessionError) throw e; // already detailed
  throw new Error(`Failed to find session '${id}': ${e.message}`);
}

When it happens

Trigger: findSession throws something other than SessionError — e.g. an FS error reading the chats directory, an unexpected JSON.parse failure, or a permission error. The wrapper at sessionUtils.ts:527 catches and rethrows with context.

Common situations: Chats directory is corrupted or has permission issues. Disk error while listing session files. A bug in findSession producing a non-SessionError. Race where the session file is deleted between listing and reading.

Related errors

• Failed to load session data
• Failed to load session ${sessionInfo.id}: ${error instanceof
• Workspace path ${resolvedPath} does not exist
• Workspace path ${resolvedPath} is not a directory
• tar.c command failed to create ${tmpArchiveFile}

AI-assisted analysis of google-gemini/gemini-cli@5024443c72 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9d0267c58bd1b16d. Report an issue: GitHub.