matryer/xbar · error

write plugin file %s

Error message

write plugin file %s

What it means

Returned by writePluginFiles when io.Copy fails while streaming the plugin file content from memory into the newly created file on disk. It wraps the write error with the plugin file path. On most local filesystems this is rare and points to an I/O-level problem (disk full, device error) or an issue with the writer being closed/unusable.

Source

Thrown at pkg/plugins/install.go:126

		return errors.New("no plugin files")
	}
	if len(plugin.Files) > 1 {
		return errors.Errorf("only one plugin file supported: found %d.", len(plugin.Files))
	}
	for _, f := range plugin.Files {
		pluginFile := dstPath
		dir := path.Dir(pluginFile)
		if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0777); err != nil {
			return errors.Wrapf(err, "create directory %s for plugin", dir)
		}
		writer, err := os.Create(pluginFile)
		if err != nil {
			return errors.Wrapf(err, "create plugin file %s", f.Path)
		}
		defer writer.Close()
		reader := strings.NewReader(f.Content)
		if _, err := io.Copy(writer, reader); err != nil {
			return errors.Wrapf(err, "write plugin file %s", f.Path)
		}
		// If the Filename property of the current file matches the Filename
		// property of the plugin, this is the entry point, so set it to be
		// executable.
		if f.Filename != plugin.Filename {
			continue
		}
		if err := os.Chmod(pluginFile, 0755); err != nil {
			return errors.Wrap(err, "set executable permission on plugin entry point")
		}
		// write the default variables
		plugin, err := metadata.Parse(metadata.DebugfNoop, pluginFile, f.Content)
		if err != nil {
			log.Println("install plugin: unable to parse metadata:", err)
		}
		if len(plugin.Vars) > 0 {
			defaultVars := make(map[string]interface{})
			for _, pluginVar := range plugin.Vars {

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

  1. Free disk space or increase quota (df -h, check du of the plugin dir).
  2. Check filesystem health (dmesg / smartctl) if errors persist.
  3. Retry the install after confirming the volume is writable.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if st, err := os.Stat(filepath.Dir(dstPath)); err != nil || !st.IsDir() {
    return fmt.Errorf("plugin dir not ready")
}
// also check free space via syscall.Statfs when on Linux

Try / catch

err := installer.Install(plugin)
var pe *os.PathError
if errors.As(err, &pe) && errors.Is(pe.Err, syscall.ENOSPC) {
    log.Fatalf("disk full while writing plugin file: %s", pe.Path)
}
return err

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Installer.Install -> writePluginFiles when the io.Copy(writer, strings.NewReader(f.Content)) write fails: no space left on device, I/O error on the underlying filesystem, or the file handle became invalid after os.Create.

Common situations: Disk filling up mid-install; failing hardware or network filesystem (NFS) drop; extremely large plugin content exceeding quota between create and write.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7193880ad827a383. Report an issue: GitHub.