thedotmack/claude-mem · error

Settings file is corrupted. Delete

Error message

Settings file is corrupted. Delete ${settingsPath} to reset.

What it means

When reading the on-disk settings file for a GET/merge path, a JSON parse failure (including BOM-related issues, though parseJsonWithBom handles BOM) is caught and converted to a 500 telling the user the settings file is corrupted and to delete settingsPath to reset it. The worker refuses to guess at partial settings content.

Solutions

  1. Open the file at the path named in the error and fix the JSON syntax error (the server log includes the parse error details)
  2. Back up the file, delete it, and let the worker recreate defaults, then reapply settings via the API
  3. Validate the JSON with a linter/parser before saving manual edits
  4. Ensure the process writing settings uses atomic writes (write temp + rename) to avoid truncation

Example fix

// before (settings.json)
{ "autoCompact": true, }
// after
{ "autoCompact": true }
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
try { JSON.parse(readFileSync(settingsPath, 'utf-8')); } catch (e) { console.error(`${settingsPath} is not valid JSON: ${(e as Error).message}`); }

Type guard

function isValidSettingsFile(raw: string): boolean {
  try { JSON.parse(raw); return true; } catch { return false; }
}

Try / catch

try {
  const settings = await updateSettings(changes);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes('Settings file is corrupted')) {
    // back up the file, delete it to reset, then reapply settings
  }
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A request path that readFileSync's the settings JSON file and hits a parse error: truncated file from a crash mid-write, hand-edited JSON with a syntax mistake, encoding artifacts, or a file that is not JSON at all.

Common situations: Manual editing of the settings file with a trailing comma or comment; disk-full or power loss during a settings write; another tool writing non-JSON content to the settings path; copy-paste from a rich-text editor introducing smart quotes.

Understand the failure class

Background: JSON parse error: "Unexpected token" / "not valid JSON" / "failed to parse" — what JSON parsers are really complaining about — this error's family across 45 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of thedotmack/claude-mem@d8bc9755e7 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c641d001aff4b812. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/services/worker/http/routes/SettingsRoutes.ts:111

      res.status(400).json({
        success: false,
        error: validation.error
      });
      return;
    }

    const settingsPath = paths.settings();
    this.ensureSettingsFile(settingsPath);
    let settings: any = {};

    if (existsSync(settingsPath)) {
      const settingsData = readFileSync(settingsPath, 'utf-8');
      try {
        settings = parseJsonWithBom(settingsData);
      } catch (parseError) {
        const normalizedParseError = parseError instanceof Error ? parseError : new Error(String(parseError));
        logger.error('HTTP', 'Failed to parse settings file', { settingsPath }, normalizedParseError);
        res.status(500).json({
          success: false,
          error: `Settings file is corrupted. Delete ${settingsPath} to reset.`
        });
        return;
      }
    }

    // Write whitelist. Secrets are deliberately absent: the Observation TV token,
    // and the Chroma / Telegram / CloudSync keys. POST /api/settings has no
    // authentication, so any page the user visits could set one of its choosing.
    // Keeping them off this list means only the filesystem or the env can set them.
    const settingKeys = [
      'CLAUDE_MEM_MODEL',
      'CLAUDE_MEM_CONTEXT_OBSERVATIONS',
      'CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT',
      'CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_HOST',
      'CLAUDE_MEM_PROVIDER',
      'CLAUDE_MEM_CLAUDE_AUTH_METHOD',

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