goreleaser/goreleaser · error

xz: failed to add %s, only one file can be archived in xz fo

Error message

xz: failed to add %s, only one file can be archived in xz format

What it means

The xz archive format is a single-stream container that holds exactly one file, unlike zip/tar which support multiple entries. Archive.Add tracks the first file added via a.name and refuses any subsequent Add call so it doesn't silently overwrite or corrupt the stream. This is a format limitation enforced explicitly by goreleaser's xz archive implementation.

Source

Thrown at pkg/archive/xz/xz.go:36

}

// New xz archive.
func New(target io.Writer) *Archive {
	xzw, _ := xz.WriterConfig{DictCap: 16 * 1024 * 1024}.NewWriter(target)
	return &Archive{
		xzw: xzw,
	}
}

// Close all closeables.
func (a *Archive) Close() error {
	return a.xzw.Close()
}

// Add file to the archive.
func (a *Archive) Add(f config.File) error {
	if a.name != "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("xz: failed to add %s, only one file can be archived in xz format", f.Destination)
	}

	file, err := os.Open(f.Source) // #nosec
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer file.Close()

	info, err := file.Stat()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	if info.IsDir() {
		return nil
	}

	a.name = f.Destination

View on GitHub (pinned to f5edd73956)

Solutions

1. Change the archive format to tar.xz (format: tar.xz) which supports multiple files, instead of raw xz
2. Keep only a single file in the `files:` list when using format: xz
3. Split the archives: use format_overrides or multiple archives entries so each xz archive wraps exactly one file

Example fix

// before (.goreleaser.yaml)
archives:
  - formats: [xz]
    files: [bin/myapp, LICENSE]
// after
archives:
  - formats: [tar.xz]
    files: [bin/myapp, LICENSE]

// before creating the xz archive
if len(files) > 1 {
    return fmt.Errorf("xz format supports only one file; got %d — use tar.xz instead", len(files))
}

// Go: treat as unrecoverable config error
if err := a.Add(f); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "only one file can be archived in xz format") {
        return fmt.Errorf("config error: %w", err) // do not retry
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Archive.Add(f config.File) a second time on the same *xz.Archive instance, i.e. after one successful Add (a.name is non-empty), or when the archive config produces multiple files for an xz-format archive.

Common situations: A goreleaser .goreleaser.yaml config where `format: xz` is combined with `files:` listing more than one file (or a glob that expands to several files); devs mistakenly treating xz like tar.gz and adding many files.

Related errors

• failed to apply template %s: %w
• globbing failed for pattern %s: %w
• failed to parse %s: %w
• invalid goos: %s
• invalid goarch: %s

AI-assisted analysis of goreleaser/goreleaser@f5edd73956 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa8895a871173be9. Report an issue: GitHub.