ipfs/kubo · error

failed to read config: %w

Error message

failed to read config: %w

What it means

Returned when `ipfs ipns put --allow-delegated` cannot read the node configuration (nd.Repo.Config() failed) while checking whether delegated publishers are set up. Wraps the underlying repo/config read error.

Source

Thrown at core/commands/name/name.go:454

			return err
		}

		// Parse options
		force, _ := req.Options[forceOptionName].(bool)
		allowOffline, _ := req.Options[putAllowOfflineOption].(bool)
		allowDelegated, _ := req.Options[allowDelegatedOption].(bool)

		// Validate flag combinations
		if allowOffline && allowDelegated {
			return errors.New("cannot use both --allow-offline and --allow-delegated flags")
		}

		// Handle different publishing modes
		if allowDelegated {
			// AllowDelegated mode: check if delegated publishers are configured
			cfg, err := nd.Repo.Config()
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("failed to read config: %w", err)
			}
			delegatedPublishers := cfg.DelegatedPublishersWithAutoConf()
			if len(delegatedPublishers) == 0 {
				return errors.New("no delegated publishers configured: add Ipns.DelegatedPublishers or use --allow-offline for local-only publishing")
			}
			// For allow-delegated mode, we proceed even if offline
			// since we're using HTTP publishing via delegated publishers
		}

		// Parse the IPNS name argument
		nameArg := req.Arguments[0]
		if !strings.HasPrefix(nameArg, "/ipns/") {
			nameArg = "/ipns/" + nameArg
		}
		// Extract the name part after /ipns/
		namePart := strings.TrimPrefix(nameArg, "/ipns/")
		name, err := ipns.NameFromString(namePart)
		if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Check permissions on $IPFS_PATH/config and that the command runs as the repo owner
2. Validate the config JSON: `ipfs config show` and fix syntax errors from manual edits
3. Restart the daemon/repo access and retry

Example fix

// before (config unreadable, e.g. owned by root)
ipfs ipns put --allow-delegated --key=self record.bin
// error: failed to read config: permission denied
// after
sudo chown $USER:$USER $IPFS_PATH/config
ipfs ipns put --allow-delegated --key=self record.bin

// pre-check config readability
f, err := os.Open(filepath.Join(ipfsPath, "config"))
if err != nil { /* fix permissions first */ }

cfg, err := node.Repo.Config()
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to read config: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: `ipfs ipns put --allow-delegated` executed against a node whose repo config cannot be read — corrupted config file, permission denied on the config file, repo lock/unavailable state.

Common situations: Running the command as a different user than the daemon (permission mismatch on IPFS_PATH), malformed JSON in the config after manual edits, or read-only filesystem.

Related errors

• no delegated publishers configured: add Ipns.DelegatedPublis
• failed to read record: %w
• cannot specify negative resolve cache size
• failed to read config: %w
• no delegated publishers configured: add Ipns.DelegatedPublis

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f46bc40b1879adb5. Report an issue: GitHub.