spacedriveapp/spacedrive · error · anyhow::Error

Transfer error: {}

Error message

Transfer error: {}

What it means

Thrown during a PULL-mode cross-device file copy when the remote sender transmits a FileTransferMessage::TransferError frame. The failure originated on the peer, not locally: the embedded message names what went wrong on the sender side (read failure, verification failure, internal abort). Before returning, the receiver deletes the partially downloaded file at final_dest_path, so no partial artifact remains.

Source

Thrown at core/src/ops/files/copy/strategy.rs:729

								return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Final checksum mismatch"));
							}
						}
					}

					transfer_completed = true;
					ctx.log(format!(
						"PULL transfer completed: {} bytes received",
						total_bytes_received
					));
					break;
				}
				crate::service::network::protocol::file_transfer::FileTransferMessage::TransferError {
					message,
					..
				} => {
					// Clean up partial file
					let _ = fs::remove_file(&final_dest_path).await;
					return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Transfer error: {}", message));
				}
				_ => {
					debug!("Received unexpected message during PULL transfer");
				}
			}
		}

		// Verify transfer completed properly
		if !transfer_completed {
			let _ = fs::remove_file(&final_dest_path).await;
			return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
				"Transfer interrupted: received {} of {} bytes before connection closed",
				total_bytes_received,
				file_size
			));
		}

		file.flush().await?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 6dfeccf211)

Solutions

1. Read the embedded remote message - it states the actual root cause on the sending device
2. Verify the source file still exists and is readable by the daemon on the remote device
3. Check sender-side daemon logs around the failure time for the paired error
4. Confirm both devices run the same sd-core version, then retry the copy job

match run_copy().await {
    Ok(out) => out,
    Err(ref e) if e.to_string().starts_with("Transfer error:") => {
        // Peer-reported failure; the partial file was already cleaned up locally.
        // Surface the peer message instead of retrying blindly.
        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Remote device failed the transfer: {}", e));
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running a copy job that pulls a file from another device; the sender emits TransferError { message, .. } mid-stream and the match arm at strategy.rs:729 fires. Happens when the source file becomes unreadable on the sender, sender-side verification fails, or the sender aborts the session.

Common situations: Source file moved, deleted, or locked (antivirus scan, Windows file lock) on the sender between job creation and transfer; sender disk full or permissions revoked mid-read; sender running a protocol version that aborts on the first chunk.

Related errors

• Transfer interrupted: received {} of {} bytes before connect
• Could not find node_id for device {}
• Failed to open stream: {}
• Failed to write message length: {}
• Failed to write chunk data: {}

AI-assisted analysis of spacedriveapp/spacedrive@6dfeccf211 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2dda1b3da3aa01dc. Report an issue: GitHub.