multica-ai/multica · error

read file for --%s: %w

Error message

read file for --%s: %w

What it means

Returned by the shared text-source helper when os.ReadFile fails for a --flag-file variant. The %s names the file flag and %w wraps the underlying path error (not found, permission denied, is-a-directory, etc.). Note the path must also pass ensureFileFlagWithinWorkdir first, so it is already constrained to the working directory.

Source

Thrown at server/cmd/multica/cmd_issue.go:78

	if useStdin {
		data, err := io.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
		if err != nil {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("read stdin for --%s: %w", stdinFlag, err)
		}
		body := strings.TrimSuffix(string(data), "\n")
		if body == "" {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("stdin content for --%s is empty", stdinFlag)
		}
		return body, true, nil
	}
	if filePath != "" {
		if err := ensureFileFlagWithinWorkdir(cmd, fileFlag, flagName, filePath); err != nil {
			return "", false, err
		}
		data, err := os.ReadFile(filePath)
		if err != nil {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("read file for --%s: %w", fileFlag, err)
		}
		body := strings.TrimSuffix(string(data), "\n")
		if body == "" {
			return "", false, fmt.Errorf("file content for --%s is empty", fileFlag)
		}
		return body, true, nil
	}
	if inline == "" {
		return "", false, nil
	}
	return util.UnescapeBackslashEscapes(inline), true, nil
}

// ensureFileFlagWithinWorkdir fails closed when a --<name>-file path resolves
// outside the current working directory, unless --allow-external-file is set.
//
// Agent task workdirs are isolated per profile and per task; machine-shared
// scratch paths like /tmp are not. MUL-4252 traced a cross-environment context

View on GitHub (pinned to 2c0912b6ec)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error for the OS cause; verify the path exists and is a readable regular file (ls -l, test -f && test -r)
2. Use a path relative to the current working directory (the helper enforces workdir containment) or an absolute path inside it
3. Fix permissions if reading fails with EACCES (chmod/chown or run as a user with read access)
4. If the file is generated by an earlier step, verify that step succeeded before this command runs

Example fix

# before
multica issue create --title "T" --description-file ./desc.txt
# error: read file for --description-file: open ./desc.txt: no such file or directory

# after
ls -l ./desc.txt  # confirm it exists and is readable
multica issue create --title "T" --description-file ./desc.txt

# bash: verify readability and workdir containment before --*-file
[[ -f "$DESC_FILE" && -r "$DESC_FILE" ]] || { echo "missing/unreadable: $DESC_FILE" >&2; exit 1; }
multica issue create --title "$t" --description-file "$DESC_FILE"

When it happens

Trigger: Using --flag-file with a nonexistent path, an unreadable file (bad permissions), or a directory. The reachability-within-workdir check passed, so the path resolved legally but the OS read itself failed.

Common situations: Relative paths resolved from a different cwd than expected; files deleted between command construction and execution; permission mismatches when running under a different user or container; typos in the filename.

Related errors

• read --%s-file: %w
• read stdin for --%s: %w
• --cutoff is required; use the hosted deployment time of the
• --batch-size must be positive
• file not found: %w

AI-assisted analysis of multica-ai/multica@2c0912b6ec (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6ea7c6684f2ef000. Report an issue: GitHub.