lima-vm/lima · error

failed to inspect instance %#q: %w

Error message

failed to inspect instance %#q: %w

What it means

protectAction calls store.Inspect for each named instance; when the instance directory/yaml cannot be read or parsed, the error is wrapped as "failed to inspect instance" and collected (other instances still processed). It almost always wraps an os.ErrNotExist for a nonexistent instance name.

Source

Thrown at cmd/limactl/protect.go:36

		Use:   "protect INSTANCE [INSTANCE, ...]",
		Short: "Protect an instance to prohibit accidental removal",
		Long: `Protect an instance to prohibit accidental removal via the 'limactl delete' command.
The instance is not being protected against removal via '/bin/rm', Finder, etc.`,
		Args:              WrapArgsError(cobra.MinimumNArgs(1)),
		RunE:              protectAction,
		ValidArgsFunction: protectBashComplete,
		GroupID:           advancedCommand,
	}
	return protectCommand
}

func protectAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
	ctx := cmd.Context()
	var errs []error
	for _, instName := range args {
		inst, err := store.Inspect(ctx, instName)
		if err != nil {
			errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("failed to inspect instance %#q: %w", instName, err))
			continue
		}
		if inst.Protected {
			logrus.Warnf("Instance %#q is already protected. Skipping.", instName)
			continue
		}
		if err := inst.Protect(); err != nil {
			errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("failed to protect instance %#q: %w", instName, err))
			continue
		}
		logrus.Infof("Protected %#q", instName)
	}
	return errors.Join(errs...)
}

func protectBashComplete(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string, _ string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
	return bashCompleteInstanceNames(cmd)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Check the name with `limactl list` and re-run protect with the exact instance name
2. Create the instance first (`limactl start <template> --name <name>`) before protecting
3. If LIMA_HOME is customized, ensure it matches the environment used to create the instance

Example fix

// before
limactl protect ubunty
// after
limactl list
limactl protect ubuntu

limactl list | grep -qx "$inst" || { echo "instance $inst not found" >&2; exit 1; }

err := protectCmd.Run()
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to inspect instance") {
    // instance missing: create it or fix the name/LIMA_HOME
}
if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) { /* name typo or wrong LIMA_HOME */ }

When it happens

Trigger: `limactl protect <name>` where <name> has no instance directory under LIMA_HOME; corrupted/missing lima.yaml; wrong LIMA_HOME pointing at a different instance set.

Common situations: Typo in instance name; running protect before `limactl start` created the instance; pointing LIMA_HOME at a non-default location; partially deleted instance directory.

Related errors

• instance %q not found
• instance %#q not found
• instance %#q does not exist, run `limactl create %s` to crea
• failed to delete instance %#q: %w
• instance %#q directory %#q exists but its %#q could not be r

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/09a449d7e527b0eb. Report an issue: GitHub.