jdx/mise · error

{} is not a regular file or symlink

Error message

{} is not a regular file or symlink

What it means

live_object snapshots a path's git object representation (blob or symlink target). If symlink_metadata reports the path is neither a regular file nor a symlink (e.g. fifo, socket, device, directory), there is no representable object and the function fails.

Source

Thrown at src/system/history/sync/apply.rs:803

}

pub(super) fn live_object(
    repo: &crate::system::history::shadow::HistoryRepo,
    path: &Path,
) -> Result<Option<Object>> {
    let meta = match std::fs::symlink_metadata(path) {
        Ok(meta) => meta,
        Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => return Ok(None),
        Err(err) => return Err(err.into()),
    };
    if meta.file_type().is_symlink() {
        return Ok(Some((
            "120000".into(),
            repo.transient_blob_id(std::fs::read_link(path)?.to_string_lossy().as_bytes())?,
        )));
    }
    if !meta.is_file() {
        bail!("{} is not a regular file or symlink", display_path(path));
    }
    #[cfg(unix)]
    let executable = {
        use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
        meta.permissions().mode() & 0o111 != 0
    };
    #[cfg(not(unix))]
    let executable = false;
    Ok(Some((
        if executable { "100755" } else { "100644" }.into(),
        repo.transient_blob_id(&std::fs::read(path)?)?,
    )))
}

fn saved_object(
    repo: &crate::system::history::shadow::HistoryRepo,
    tracked: &TrackedSet,
    path: &Path,

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. Inspect the path with `ls -la` and remove or replace the special file with a regular file or symlink.
2. If the path should be a directory, resolve its type before pulling (see directory handling) rather than leaving a non-file node.
3. Exclude paths that legitimately hold sockets/pipes from setup-history tracking.

Example fix

// before
mkfifo ~/.config/app/queue
// after
rm ~/.config/app/queue && echo '{}' > ~/.config/app/queue

let meta = std::fs::symlink_metadata(path)?;
if !(meta.is_file() || meta.file_type().is_symlink()) {
    // resolve the special file before pulling
}

fn is_file_or_symlink(p: &Path) -> bool {
    std::fs::symlink_metadata(p)
        .map(|m| m.is_file() || m.file_type().is_symlink())
        .unwrap_or(false)
}

When it happens

Trigger: A path tracked by setup history was replaced by a special file (named pipe, socket, device node) or a directory; calling apply/Step/recover_step/hold_reason over such a path.

Common situations: A tool created a socket or fifo at a config path; a user replaced a managed file with a directory; container volume mounts exposing device nodes in a managed directory.

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

• cannot write task stub because {} is not a regular file
• {} changed during recovery; left untouched
• {} is not a directory; resolve its type before pulling
• {} changed after permission planning; retry pull
• {} changed during application; left untouched

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ec9241b09c825e3e. Report an issue: GitHub.