siyuan-note/siyuan · error

create import dir failed:

Error message

create import dir failed: 

What it means

When HTTPRequest receives a non-text response (binary content), it writes the body into <TempDir>/import. Before writing, it creates that directory with os.MkdirAll(importDir, 0755); if directory creation fails, the error is wrapped as "create import dir failed: <cause>". This is a local filesystem failure, not an HTTP problem.

Source

Thrown at kernel/util/httprequest.go:363

	maxReadBytes := int64(maxHTTPRequestBytes)
	if !isTextContentType(contentType) {
		maxReadBytes = maxHTTPRequestFileBytes
	}
	// ContentLength 为 -1（chunked）时跳过大小预检，交由 LimitReader 兜底截断。
	if resp.ContentLength > maxReadBytes {
		return statusCode, contentType, "", errors.New("response too large")
	}

	respBody, rerr := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, maxReadBytes))
	if rerr != nil {
		return statusCode, contentType, "", errors.New("read body failed: " + rerr.Error())
	}

	// 二进制响应落盘，返回文件路径，供智能体按需进一步处理。
	if !isTextContentType(contentType) {
		importDir := filepath.Join(TempDir, "import")
		if merr := os.MkdirAll(importDir, 0755); merr != nil {
			return statusCode, contentType, "", errors.New("create import dir failed: " + merr.Error())
		}
		filename := extractFilename(rawURL, contentType)
		filePath := filepath.Join(importDir, filename)
		if werr := os.WriteFile(filePath, respBody, 0644); werr != nil {
			return statusCode, contentType, "", errors.New("write file failed: " + werr.Error())
		}
		return statusCode, contentType, fmt.Sprintf("Saved to: %s (%d bytes)", filePath, len(respBody)), nil
	}

	return statusCode, contentType, truncateRunes(string(respBody), maxHTTPRequestChars), nil
}

// isTextContentType 判断 Content-Type 是否为可直接展示给智能体的文本类响应。
// 覆盖 text/*、application/json、application/xml、application/*+json 等。
func isTextContentType(contentType string) bool {
	ct := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(strings.SplitN(contentType, ";", 2)[0]))
	if ct == "" {
		return false

View on GitHub (pinned to 8641553a1f)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped cause after the prefix: permission denied vs no space left vs not a directory, and fix accordingly
2. Verify the workspace temp directory exists and is writable by the SiYuan process user (check disk space with df, permissions with ls -ld)
3. If <TempDir>/import exists as a regular file, remove or rename it so MkdirAll can create the directory
4. On sandboxed/managed systems, grant the process write access to its temp directory or relocate the workspace to a writable volume

Example fix

// diagnosis example
$ ls -ld <workspace>/temp
// if 'import' is a file:
$ mv <workspace>/temp/import <workspace>/temp/import.bak
$ mkdir <workspace>/temp/import

importDir := filepath.Join(util.TempDir, "import")
if info, err := os.Stat(importDir); err == nil && !info.IsDir() {
    return errors.New("import path exists but is not a directory")
}
if err := os.MkdirAll(importDir, 0755); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("temp dir not writable: %w", err)
}

status, ct, text, err := util.HTTPRequest("GET", binaryURL, nil, "")
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "create import dir failed") {
    // check disk space and permissions on the workspace temp dir before retrying
    return fmt.Errorf("local storage problem, not HTTP: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: HTTPRequest() with a binary Content-Type response while os.MkdirAll on <TempDir>/import fails — read-only filesystem, full disk, permission denied on the temp directory, or TempDir pointing at a path that exists as a regular file.

Common situations: Running SiYuan with a read-only or full workspace/temp volume, restrictive umask or sandboxed environments where the temp directory is not writable, or a corrupted workspace where 'import' exists as a file.

Understand the failure class

Background: mkdir permission denied (EACCES): failed to create directory errors explained — this error's family across 32 libraries.

Related errors

• create inline styles directory failed: %w
• read session file failed: %w
• create session dir failed: %w
• create AI editor actions directory failed: %w
• mkdir box conf dir failed: %w

AI-assisted analysis of siyuan-note/siyuan@8641553a1f (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4000de52346a6849. Report an issue: GitHub.