stablyai/orca · error · Error

Unsupported file type in '${displayPath}'

Error message

Unsupported file type in '${displayPath}'

What it means

Thrown by stageFileEntry() when the staged file lstat()s as neither a symlink (checked first) nor a regular file — isFile() is false. As a plain Error it surfaces as { status: 'failed' } for the source. The same type check is repeated after open(...O_NOFOLLOW) via fileHandle.stat() to catch a TOCTOU swap; both rejections share the message shape.

Source

Thrown at src/main/ipc/filesystem-mutations.ts:583

    }
  }

  await visit(rootPath)
  return entries
}

async function stageFileEntry(
  filePath: string,
  relativePath: string,
  options?: { rootRealPath?: string; totalBytesBefore?: number }
): Promise<{ entry: StagedExternalImportEntry; byteLength: number }> {
  const statResult = await lstat(filePath)
  const displayPath = normalizeRelativeUploadPath(relativePath)
  if (statResult.isSymbolicLink()) {
    throw new RuntimeUploadSymlinkError(`Symlink not allowed in '${displayPath}'`)
  }
  if (!statResult.isFile()) {
    throw new Error(`Unsupported file type in '${displayPath}'`)
  }
  if (options?.rootRealPath) {
    await assertRealPathInsideRoot(options.rootRealPath, filePath, displayPath)
  }
  const initialTotalBytes =
    options?.totalBytesBefore === undefined
      ? statResult.size
      : options.totalBytesBefore + statResult.size
  assertRemoteUploadBudget(relativePath, statResult.size, initialTotalBytes)
  const fileHandle = await open(filePath, constants.O_RDONLY | (constants.O_NOFOLLOW ?? 0))
  try {
    const openedStat = await fileHandle.stat()
    if (!openedStat.isFile()) {
      throw new Error(`Unsupported file type in '${displayPath}'`)
    }
    if (
      openedStat.size !== statResult.size ||
      (statResult.ino !== 0 && openedStat.ino !== 0 && openedStat.ino !== statResult.ino) ||

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

  1. Remove the special file from the source and re-stage.
  2. Filter non-regular files out of the upload selection before staging.
  3. If the file was swapped mid-scan (TOCTOU), re-select the source and avoid modifying it during staging.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Ensure a single-file source is a regular file before staging
import { lstat } from 'node:fs/promises'
async function isRegularFile(p: string): Promise<boolean> {
  try { const s = await lstat(p); return !s.isSymbolicLink() && s.isFile() } catch { return false }
}

Try / catch

const res = await stageOneSourceForRuntimeUpload(src)
if (res.status === 'failed' && /Unsupported file type/.test(res.reason ?? '')) {
  // report that the source is a special file and cannot be staged
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: stageFileEntry is asked to stage a path whose lstat type is not regular file (e.g. a socket/FIFO/device presented as a file), or the file was replaced by a special file between the directory listing and the per-file lstat.

Common situations: A dropped 'file' that is actually a Unix socket or named pipe; a special device node in a file slot; build/runtime artifacts (lock sockets, pid-gated FIFOs) selected for upload.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4c886b3ad66143de. Report an issue: GitHub.