sxyazi/yazi · error

`rustc --print target-libdir` failed

Error message

`rustc --print target-libdir` failed

What it means

When building for a Linux (non-sparc64) target, `Build::has_rust_lld` probes the toolchain by running `rustc --print target-libdir` to locate the bundled `rust-lld` linker. If rustc exits with a non-zero status, the `ensure!` fails with this message and the build aborts. It signals a broken or unusable rustc toolchain rather than a problem with Yazi itself.

Source

Thrown at yazi-build/src/build.rs:54

			cmd.arg("--target").arg(&self.target);
		}
		if self.completions {
			cmd.env("YAZI_GEN_COMPLETIONS", "1");
		}

		run(&mut cmd).context("failed to build Yazi")
	}

	pub(super) fn profile(&self) -> &'static str {
		if is_windows_target(&self.target) { "release-windows" } else { "release" }
	}

	fn has_rust_lld() -> Result<bool> {
		let output = Command::new(env::var_os("RUSTC").unwrap_or_else(|| "rustc".into()))
			.args(["--print", "target-libdir"])
			.output()
			.context("failed to locate the Rust target libdir")?;
		ensure!(output.status.success(), "`rustc --print target-libdir` failed");

		let libdir: PathBuf = String::from_utf8(output.stdout)
			.context("rustc returned an invalid target libdir")?
			.trim()
			.into();
		let rust_lld = libdir
			.parent()
			.context("Rust target libdir has no parent")?
			.join("bin")
			.join(format!("rust-lld{EXE_SUFFIX}"));

		Ok(rust_lld.is_file())
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 5f901b886b)

Solutions

1. Run `rustc --print target-libdir` manually to see the underlying failure and fix it
2. Run `rustup show` / `rustup update` and reinstall the active toolchain (`rustup toolchain install stable`)
3. Check the `RUSTC` environment variable points to a working rustc, or unset it to fall back to PATH
4. Verify the toolchain's sysroot exists (`rustc --print sysroot`); reinstall if missing

Example fix

// before (broken toolchain)
$ RUSTC=~/old-toolchain/rustc ya dist --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
error: `rustc --print target-libdir` failed

// after
$ rustup toolchain install stable
$ unset RUSTC
$ ya dist --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

# before building, verify the toolchain works
rustc --print target-libdir >/dev/null || { echo 'rustc broken; run rustup toolchain install'; exit 1; }
rustup target add <triple>  # ensure the cross target exists

try {
  execSync('ya dist --target ' + triple, { stdio: 'inherit' });
} catch (err) {
  if (String(err.message).includes('target-libdir')) {
    console.error('Rust toolchain broken — run `rustup toolchain install stable` and retry');
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ya build` or `ya dist` with a Linux target while the resolved rustc (`RUSTC` env var or `rustc` on PATH) exits non-zero on `--print target-libdir` — e.g. a missing/broken rustup toolchain, a removed default toolchain after `rustup update`, or `RUSTC` pointing to a non-rustc binary.

Common situations: After a rustup toolchain removal or failed update leaving dangling default toolchain; `RUSTC` set to a wrapper script that fails; minimal container images with a partial Rust install; corrupted sysroot.

Related errors

• {cmd:?} exited with status {status}
• process exited with status {status}
• --target is not valid for the install task

AI-assisted analysis of sxyazi/yazi@5f901b886b (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93e538087a23cd16. Report an issue: GitHub.