ruby/rubygems · error · Gem::Exception

Error reading files from gem

Error message

Error reading files from gem

What it means

Error "Error reading files from gem" thrown in ruby/rubygems.

Source

Thrown at lib/rubygems/package/old.rb:60

      read_until_dashes io # spec
      header = file_list io

      @contents = header.map {|file| file["path"] }
    end
  end

  ##
  # Extracts the files in this package into +destination_dir+

  def extract_files(destination_dir)
    verify

    errstr = "Error reading files from gem"

    @gem.with_read_io do |io|
      read_until_dashes io # spec
      header = file_list io
      raise Gem::Exception, errstr unless header

      # install_location expects an already-resolved destination dir
      destination_dir = File.realpath(destination_dir)

      header.each do |entry|
        full_name = entry["path"]

        destination = install_location full_name, destination_dir

        file_data = String.new

        read_until_dashes io do |line|
          file_data << line
        end

        file_data = file_data.strip.unpack1("m")
        file_data = Zlib::Inflate.inflate file_data

View on GitHub (pinned to 86cbb817a3)

Solutions

1. Re-download the gem; its file table could not be read
2. Rebuild the gem if you created it

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/rubygems/package/old.rb:60 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ruby/rubygems@86cbb817a3 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/971b7e1807ac1428. Report an issue: GitHub.