tauri-apps/tauri · error

Failed to open file

Error message

Failed to open file

What it means

In extract_zip, after reading a zip entry into a buffer, tauri-bundler creates the destination file with File::create(dest_path).expect("Failed to open file"). Any OS-level failure to create/overwrite that file (permissions, path length, read-only, name collision with a directory) becomes this panic instead of a graceful error.

Solutions

1. Delete the existing WiX tools cache (e.g. %LOCALAPPDATA%/tauri/WixTools3139) and re-run the build so files are recreated fresh.
2. Add an antivirus exclusion for the tauri cache directory or temporarily disable real-time scanning during the build.
3. Run the build from an elevated shell or fix ACLs on the cache directory so it is writable.
4. Enable Windows long-path support (LongPathsEnabled) or move the cache to a shorter path.

Example fix

// before (run in project shell)
tauri build
// after (clear the bad cache first, PowerShell)
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\tauri\WixTools*"
tauri build

// Check the WiX cache directory is writable before extraction
use std::path::Path;
let probe = cache_dir.join(".write_probe");
std::fs::write(&probe, b"x").expect("WiX cache dir not writable (AV lock or permissions?)");
let _ = std::fs::remove_file(&probe);

// Catch OS-level write failures during WiX setup
if let Err(e) = ensure_wix(&cache_dir) {
  eprintln!("WiX extraction failed: {e}; clearing cache and retrying");
  let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(&cache_dir);
  ensure_wix(&cache_dir)?;
}

When it happens

Trigger: get_and_extract_wix -> extract_zip when File::create on a zip entry's destination fails: destination is inside a read-only directory, an antivirus locks the file, the path exceeds MAX_PATH on Windows, or a directory already exists with the same name.

Common situations: Windows Defender/AV scanning quarantines files during WiX extraction; previously extracted WiX cache contains read-only files or a directory where a file should be; long paths under deep %LOCALAPPDATA% cache; running without write permission to the cache dir.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to get parent
• Failed to create locale file
• app version build number cannot be greater than 65535
• app version major number cannot be greater than 255
• app version minor number cannot be greater than 255

AI-assisted analysis of tauri-apps/tauri@460ec35447 (2026-09-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/21fe3d5aeab63702. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/tauri-bundler/src/utils/http_utils.rs:180

  for i in 0..zipa.len() {
    let mut file = zipa.by_index(i)?;

    if let Some(name) = file.enclosed_name() {
      let dest_path = path.join(name);
      if file.is_dir() {
        create_dir_all(&dest_path)?;
        continue;
      }

      let parent = dest_path.parent().expect("Failed to get parent");

      if !parent.exists() {
        create_dir_all(parent)?;
      }

      let mut buff: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
      file.read_to_end(&mut buff)?;
      let mut fileout = File::create(dest_path).expect("Failed to open file");

      fileout.write_all(&buff)?;
    }
  }

  Ok(())
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
  use super::generate_github_mirror_url_from_template;
  use std::env;

  const GITHUB_ASSET_URL: &str =
    "https://github.com/wixtoolset/wix3/releases/download/wix3112rtm/wix311-binaries.zip";
  const NON_GITHUB_ASSET_URL: &str = "https://someotherwebsite.com/somefile.zip";

  #[test]

View on GitHub (pinned to 460ec35447)