pkgxdev/pkgx · critical

Unsupported architecture

Error message

Unsupported architecture

What it means

The `host()` function in types.rs only maps `target_arch = "aarch64"` to `Arch::Arm64` and `target_arch = "x86_64"` to `Arch::X86_64` via conditional compilation. On any other CPU architecture the cfg blocks compile nothing and a `panic!("Unsupported architecture")` fires at runtime when `host()` is first called. This is a deliberate hard stop: the library cannot select or resolve packages for architectures it has no `Arch` variant for.

Solutions

1. Rebuild pkgx for an aarch64 or x86_64 target (e.g. `cargo build --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu`)
2. Use a machine/container image matching a supported architecture instead of cross-compiling
3. Add the missing architecture mapping in crates/lib/src/types.rs (new `#[cfg(target_arch = ...)] let arch = Arch::...;` plus a corresponding `Arch` variant) and upstream it
4. Check `rustc -vV | grep host` to confirm what target the binary was compiled for

Example fix

// before
#[cfg(target_arch = "aarch64")]
let arch = Arch::Arm64;
#[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
let arch = Arch::X86_64;
// after (upstream change to support more targets)
#[cfg(target_arch = "aarch64")]
let arch = Arch::Arm64;
#[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
let arch = Arch::X86_64;
#[cfg(target_arch = "riscv64")]
let arch = Arch::Riscv64;
// note: also requires adding the variant to the Arch enum

// detect target before calling the lib (build.rs or runtime check)
const SUPPORTED: &[&str] = &["x86_64", "aarch64"];
fn is_supported_target() -> bool {
    let arch = std::env::consts::ARCH;
    SUPPORTED.contains(&arch)
}

fn is_supported_arch(arch: &str) -> bool {
    matches!(arch, "x86_64" | "aarch64")
}

// panic cannot be caught idiomatically in Rust; guard before use
if !is_supported_arch(std::env::consts::ARCH) {
    eprintln!("this build of pkgx does not support {}", std::env::consts::ARCH);
    std::process::exit(1);
}
let host = Host::host();

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `Host::host()` (via the public `ls` or `get_url` paths) on a build compiled for any target other than aarch64 or x86_64 — e.g. armv7, riscv64, i686, powerpc. The panic happens immediately at the first call, before any package logic runs.

Common situations: Cross-compiling pkgx to a Raspberry Pi (armv7l) or other SBC, running in an emulator/QEMU setup with an unusual target triple, building for 32-bit x86 (i686) containers, or embedding the lib in firmware on niche architectures.

Understand the failure class

Background: "unsupported platform" / "not supported on this platform" errors: what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

• unexpected error: install locking failed

AI-assisted analysis of pkgxdev/pkgx@6de1d7e953 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3135ce53d40157bc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/lib/src/types.rs:118

pub enum Arch {
    Arm64,
    X86_64,
}

pub fn host() -> (Host, Arch) {
    #[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
    let host = Host::Darwin;
    #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
    let host = Host::Linux;
    #[cfg(windows)]
    let host = Host::Windows;

    #[cfg(target_arch = "aarch64")]
    let arch = Arch::Arm64;
    #[cfg(target_arch = "x86_64")]
    let arch = Arch::X86_64;
    #[cfg(not(any(target_arch = "aarch64", target_arch = "x86_64")))]
    panic!("Unsupported architecture");

    (host, arch)
}

impl fmt::Display for Host {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
        let os_str = match self {
            Host::Linux => "linux",
            Host::Darwin => "darwin",
            Host::Windows => "windows",
        };
        write!(f, "{}", os_str)
    }
}

impl fmt::Display for Arch {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
        let os_str = match self {

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