hasura/graphql-engine · error

find executable: %w

Error message

find executable: %w

What it means

ApplyUpdate starts by resolving the path of the currently running executable via getExecutablePath(); this error means that lookup failed (cli/update/update.go:134). On Go this is os.Executable()/os.LookupEnv based, so it fails when the binary was launched in a way the OS cannot map back to a file path.

Source

Thrown at cli/update/update.go:134

	latestVersion, preReleaseVersion, err := getLatestVersion()
	if err != nil {
		return false, nil, false, nil, errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("get latest version: %w", err))
	}

	return latestVersion.GreaterThan(
			currentVersion,
		), latestVersion, preReleaseVersion.GreaterThan(
			currentVersion,
		), preReleaseVersion, nil
}

// ApplyUpdate downloads and applies the update indicated by version v.
func ApplyUpdate(v *semver.Version) error {
	var op errors.Op = "update.ApplyUpdate"
	// get the current executable
	exe, err := getExecutablePath()
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("find executable: %w", err))
	}

	// extract the filename and path
	exePath := filepath.Dir(exe)
	exeName := filepath.Base(exe)

	// download the new binary
	asset, err := downloadAsset(
		buildAssetURL(v.String()), "."+exeName+".new", exePath,
	)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("download asset: %w", err))
	}

	// get the downloaded binary name and build the absolute path
	newExe := asset.Name()

	// build name and absolute path for saving old binary

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Confirm the binary still exists at its original path (ls -l /proc/<pid>/exe).
2. Run the CLI from a normal installed location rather than a temp/pipe-launched file.
3. If in a container, ensure /proc is mounted and the binary is on a persistent path.
4. Reinstall the CLI via your usual package method so the executable path is stable.

exe, err := os.Executable()
if err != nil || exe == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot resolve executable path; reinstall the CLI")
}
if _, err := os.Stat(exe); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("executable missing at %s", exe)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ApplyUpdate when os.Executable() fails: the executable was deleted while running, /proc is not mounted, or the process was started via a pipe/fd instead of a file path.

Common situations: Running the binary through a wrapper that execs from a deleted temp file; minimal containers without /proc; the binary being replaced/deleted mid-run by another updater.

Related errors

• saving downloaded file: %w
• get latest version: %w
• download asset: %w
• rename exe to old: %w
• rename old to exe: inconsistent state, re-install cli: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b6a869fade1fa0c8. Report an issue: GitHub.