ipfs/kubo · error

error while inspecting %s path (%q): %w

Error message

error while inspecting %s path (%q): %w

What it means

checkFusePath's generic guard: os.Stat on the configured FUSE mountpoint (IPFS/IPNS/MFS path) returned an error other than NotExist, e.g. a permission denial or a broken symlink on some path component. %s is the mount name ("IPFS path" etc.), %q the path, %w the underlying stat error. Fires during mountFuse when the path exists in a form stat cannot inspect.

Source

Thrown at cmd/ipfs/kubo/daemon.go:1293

	// Extra space after "MFS" so "mounted at:" lines up with IPFS and
	// IPNS in the column above. Matches MountCmd's output formatter.
	fmt.Printf("IPFS mounted at: %s\n", fsdir)
	fmt.Printf("IPNS mounted at: %s\n", nsdir)
	fmt.Printf("MFS  mounted at: %s\n", mfsdir)
	return nil
}

func checkFusePath(name, path string) error {
	if path == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s path cannot be empty", name)
	}

	fileInfo, err := os.Stat(path)
	if err != nil {
		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
			return fmt.Errorf("%s path (%q) does not exist: %w", name, path, err)
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("error while inspecting %s path (%q): %w", name, path, err)
	}

	if !fileInfo.IsDir() {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s path (%q) is not a directory", name, path)
	}

	return nil
}

func maybeRunGC(req *cmds.Request, node *core.IpfsNode) (<-chan error, error) {
	enableGC, _ := req.Options[enableGCKwd].(bool)
	if !enableGC {
		return nil, nil
	}

	errc := make(chan error)
	go func() {
		errc <- corerepo.PeriodicGC(req.Context, node)

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Fix permissions on the mountpoint path or its parents so the ipfs process can stat it
2. Remove dangling symlinks along the path
3. Point the mount config at an existing directory and retry 'ipfs daemon --mount'

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cmd/ipfs/kubo/daemon.go:1293 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f754c198ba730feb. Report an issue: GitHub.