paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

Invalid zip archive: malformed central directory record.

Error message

Invalid zip archive: malformed central directory record.

What it means

Error "Invalid zip archive: malformed central directory record." thrown in paperclipai/paperclip.

Source

Thrown at packages/shared/src/portability-zip.ts:104

//     to exactly the declared directory size; and
//   • every record references a real local file header, and the record count
//     equals both the EOCD's declared count and the local entries parsed.
function validateCentralDirectory(bytes: Uint8Array, eocdOffset: number, localHeaderCount: number) {
  const declaredEntryCount = readUint16(bytes, eocdOffset + 10);
  const centralDirectorySize = readUint32(bytes, eocdOffset + 12);
  const centralDirectoryStart = readUint32(bytes, eocdOffset + 16);
  if (centralDirectoryStart > eocdOffset || centralDirectoryStart + centralDirectorySize !== eocdOffset) {
    throw new Error(
      "Invalid zip archive: central directory location is inconsistent (truncated or forged).",
    );
  }

  const directoryEnd = centralDirectoryStart + centralDirectorySize;
  let cursor = centralDirectoryStart;
  let recordCount = 0;
  while (cursor < directoryEnd) {
    if (cursor + 46 > directoryEnd || readUint32(bytes, cursor) !== CENTRAL_DIRECTORY_SIGNATURE) {
      throw new Error("Invalid zip archive: malformed central directory record.");
    }
    const fileNameLength = readUint16(bytes, cursor + 28);
    const extraFieldLength = readUint16(bytes, cursor + 30);
    const commentLength = readUint16(bytes, cursor + 32);
    const localHeaderOffset = readUint32(bytes, cursor + 42);
    if (localHeaderOffset + 4 > bytes.length || readUint32(bytes, localHeaderOffset) !== LOCAL_FILE_SIGNATURE) {
      throw new Error("Invalid zip archive: central directory references a missing local entry.");
    }
    cursor += 46 + fileNameLength + extraFieldLength + commentLength;
    recordCount += 1;
  }

  if (cursor !== directoryEnd) {
    throw new Error("Invalid zip archive: central directory size does not match its records.");
  }
  if (recordCount !== declaredEntryCount || recordCount !== localHeaderCount) {
    throw new Error(
      `Invalid zip archive: central directory declares ${declaredEntryCount} entries but ${localHeaderCount} local entries were read (truncated or corrupt).`,

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

1. Re-create the archive with a standard zip tool; the central directory is malformed.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/shared/src/portability-zip.ts:104 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b3f353f8a9957861. Report an issue: GitHub.