sipeed/picoclaw · error

reset failed: %w

Error message

reset failed: %w

What it means

`picoclaw config reset` (after its y/n confirmation, or immediately with -f/--force) calls config.ResetToDefaults(configPath), which first makes a backup (MakeBackup), preserves security settings, then saves DefaultConfig. This error wraps a failure anywhere in that chain. The inner message tells you which step failed; filesystem problems dominate.

Source

Thrown at cmd/picoclaw/internal/config/command.go:45

		Use:   "reset",
		Short: "Reset configuration to factory defaults",
		Args:  cobra.NoArgs,
		Example: `  picoclaw config reset
  picoclaw config reset --force`,
		RunE: func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
			if !force {
				fmt.Print("Reset config to factory defaults? API keys will be preserved. (y/n): ")
				var response string
				fmt.Scanln(&response)
				if strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(response)) != "y" {
					fmt.Println("Aborted.")
					return nil
				}
			}

			configPath := internal.GetConfigPath()
			if err := config.ResetToDefaults(configPath); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("reset failed: %w", err)
			}
			fmt.Println("Configuration has been reset to factory defaults.")
			fmt.Println("A backup of the previous config was created in the same directory.")
			return nil
		},
	}

	cmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&force, "force", "f", false,
		"Skip confirmation prompt")

	return cmd
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 49183d7e8d)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped message: 'backup before reset:' means MakeBackup failed - restore writability of the config directory shown by `picoclaw config path`
2. Free disk space or fix ownership/permissions, then retry `picoclaw config reset -f`
3. If reset half-completed, restore the timestamped backup in the same directory
4. As a last resort, move the config aside and re-run onboarding to regenerate it

cfg_dir=$(dirname "$(picoclaw config path)")
[ -w "$cfg_dir" ] && touch "$cfg_dir/.write-test" && rm "$cfg_dir/.write-test" || echo "config dir not writable"

if err := config.ResetToDefaults(configPath); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "backup before reset") {
        // backup step failed: free space / fix permissions, old config is intact
    } else {
        // save failed: check the timestamped backup in the same directory before retrying
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `picoclaw config reset` or `picoclaw config reset -f` when the backup copy cannot be created (read-only config directory, disk full) or SaveConfig cannot write the new file. The wrapped error 'backup before reset: ...' points at the backup step specifically.

Common situations: Read-only or root-owned config directory; disk full; config on a dropped network mount; container where the config home is not writable.

Related errors

• failed to load config: %w
• failed to save config: %w
• local command %q is a directory
• local command %q is not executable
• failed to save config: %w

AI-assisted analysis of sipeed/picoclaw@49183d7e8d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4a46485b3dcf80f6. Report an issue: GitHub.