sxyazi/yazi · critical

Failed to get state directory

Error message

Failed to get state directory

What it means

Windows branch of Xdg::load_state_dir: panics via expect when dirs::data_dir() — the Roaming AppData root (%APPDATA%) — returns None, so the "yazi\state" join cannot happen. yazi keeps persistent state (cursor position, tabs, plugin state) under this directory; it is resolved once per process at startup.

Source

Thrown at yazi-fs/src/xdg.rs:72

		{
			env::var_os("XDG_CACHE_HOME")
				.map(PathBuf::from)
				.filter(|p| p.is_absolute())
				.map(|p| p.join("yazi"))
				.or_else(|| dirs::home_dir().map(|h| h.join(".cache/yazi")))
				.expect("Failed to get cache directory")
		}
	}

	pub fn state_dir() -> &'static PathBuf {
		static ONCE: OnceLock<PathBuf> = OnceLock::new();
		ONCE.get_or_init(Self::load_state_dir)
	}

	fn load_state_dir() -> PathBuf {
		#[cfg(windows)]
		{
			dirs::data_dir().map(|p| p.join("yazi\\state")).expect("Failed to get state directory")
		}
		#[cfg(unix)]
		{
			env::var_os("XDG_STATE_HOME")
				.map(PathBuf::from)
				.filter(|p| p.is_absolute())
				.map(|p| p.join("yazi"))
				.or_else(|| dirs::home_dir().map(|h| h.join(".local/state/yazi")))
				.expect("Failed to get state directory")
		}
	}

	pub fn runtime_dir() -> &'static PathBuf {
		static ONCE: OnceLock<PathBuf> = OnceLock::new();
		ONCE.get_or_init(Self::load_runtime_dir)
	}

	fn load_runtime_dir() -> PathBuf {

View on GitHub (pinned to 94abcfa92f)

Solutions

1. Restore a valid APPDATA for the account running yazi
2. Use an interactive user profile, or wrap the launch so APPDATA is set
3. Verify with `echo %APPDATA%` in the launching context
4. If APPDATA cannot be restored, run yazi from a normal user session instead of the stripped context

Example fix

REM before: APPDATA unset -> panic "Failed to get state directory"
set APPDATA=C:\Users\me\AppData\Roaming
yazi.exe

#[cfg(windows)]
fn state_dir_ok() -> bool {
    std::env::var_os("APPDATA").is_some_and(|v| std::path::Path::new(&v).is_absolute())
}

When it happens

Trigger: First call to Xdg::state_dir() on Windows with APPDATA unset or unresolvable: SYSTEM/service accounts without a roaming profile, sanitized CI environments.

Common situations: Running yazi or ya as a scheduled task/service under SYSTEM; CI runners on Windows that strip APPDATA; group policies removing the roaming profile root.

Related errors

• Failed to get config directory
• Failed to get cache directory
• failed to get current working directory
• Time went backwards
• failed to spawn chafa: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of sxyazi/yazi@94abcfa92f (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/748364828b0cd7ee. Report an issue: GitHub.