openai/codex · error · anyhow::Error

missing program for pipe spawn

Error message

missing program for pipe spawn

What it means

Error "missing program for pipe spawn" thrown in openai/codex.

Source

Thrown at codex-rs/utils/pty/src/pipe.rs:143

#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
enum PipeStdinMode {
    Piped,
    Null,
}

/// On Windows, process-tree containment is best-effort because Tokio returns
/// only after the root process starts, so job assignment cannot be atomic.
async fn spawn_process_with_stdin_mode(
    program: &str,
    args: &[String],
    cwd: &Path,
    env: &HashMap<String, String>,
    arg0: &Option<String>,
    stdin_mode: PipeStdinMode,
    inherited_fds: &[i32],
) -> Result<SpawnedProcess> {
    if program.is_empty() {
        anyhow::bail!("missing program for pipe spawn");
    }

    #[cfg(not(unix))]
    let _ = inherited_fds;

    let mut command = Command::new(program);
    #[cfg(unix)]
    if let Some(arg0) = arg0 {
        command.arg0(arg0);
    }
    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
    let parent_pid = unsafe { libc::getpid() };
    #[cfg(unix)]
    let inherited_fds = inherited_fds.to_vec();
    #[cfg(unix)]
    unsafe {
        command.pre_exec(move || {
            crate::process_group::detach_from_tty()?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 339751715c)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at codex-rs/utils/pty/src/pipe.rs:143 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of openai/codex@339751715c (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/276653f10718513b. Report an issue: GitHub.