plandex-ai/plandex · error

error checking for .plandexignore file: %s

Error message

error checking for .plandexignore file: %s

What it means

After Stat on .plandexignore returns a non-nil error, GetPlandexIgnore distinguishes 'not exist' (normal, returns nil) from any other Stat failure (permission denied, I/O error, path issues), which produces this wrapped error.

Source

Thrown at app/cli/fs/paths.go:364

		PlandexIgnored: ignored,
		IgnoredPaths:   ignoredPaths,
		GitIgnoredDirs: gitIgnoredDirs,
	}, nil
}

func GetPlandexIgnore(dir string) (*ignore.GitIgnore, error) {
	ignorePath := filepath.Join(dir, ".plandexignore")

	if _, err := os.Stat(ignorePath); err == nil {
		ignored, err := ignore.CompileIgnoreFile(ignorePath)

		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading .plandexignore file: %s", err)
		}

		return ignored, nil
	} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error checking for .plandexignore file: %s", err)
	}

	return nil, nil
}

func GetBaseDirForContexts(contexts []*shared.Context) string {
	var paths []string

	for _, context := range contexts {
		if context.FilePath != "" {
			paths = append(paths, context.FilePath)
		}
	}

	return GetBaseDirForFilePaths(paths)
}

func GetBaseDirForFilePaths(paths []string) string {

View on GitHub (pinned to e2d772072e)

Solutions

1. Check permissions on the project directory and .plandexignore path (ls -la, fix with chmod/chown)
2. Remove or repair broken symlinks along the path
3. Run the CLI from a healthy local directory instead of a flaky network mount
4. Inspect the wrapped err to identify the exact syscall failure

Example fix

// before
chmod 000 project/
// after
chmod 755 project/

ignorePath := filepath.Join(dir, ".plandexignore")
if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Dir(ignorePath)); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("project dir not accessible: %w", err)
}

ignored, err := GetPlandexIgnore(dir)
if err != nil {
    log.Warn("continuing without .plandexignore", "err", err)
    ignored = nil // proceed with empty ignore rules
}

When it happens

Trigger: os.Stat(.plandexignore) fails with an error other than fs.ErrNotExist — typically EACCES on a parent directory, ELOOP from a symlink cycle, or I/O errors on network filesystems.

Common situations: Running in a directory where a parent dir lost execute permission; .plandexignore is a broken symlink loop; NFS/NAS mounts returning stale file handles.

Understand the failure class

Background: Permission denied / not authorized / 403 Forbidden: access-control rejections when the caller lacks the required role, grant, or ownership — this error's family across 18 libraries.

Related errors

• error checking if file exists: %v
• error setting auth: %v
• error writing auth: %v
• error reading accounts.json: %v
• error walking directory: %s

AI-assisted analysis of plandex-ai/plandex@e2d772072e (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/43070808d5126b7c. Report an issue: GitHub.