[uninstall] Could not read settings for server runtime…

Error message

[uninstall] Could not read settings for server runtime cleanup:

What it means

During uninstall, clearServerRuntimeSettings reads flat settings to remove server-runtime-related keys. If readFlatSettings(USER_SETTINGS_PATH) throws, it logs this warning and returns early — server runtime settings keys are left untouched in the settings file.

Solutions

Fix or restore ~/.claude/settings.json (valid JSON, readable by current user), then re-run uninstall.
Manually remove the server runtime keys (e.g. CLAUDE_MEM_RUNTIME and related server keys) from settings.json with an editor.
Ignore if the file intentionally doesn't exist — leftover keys are inert after uninstall.

Example fix

// before: unreadable settings
ls -l ~/.claude/settings.json  # -rw------- root root
// after
sudo chown $USER ~/.claude/settings.json
npx claude-mem uninstall

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

// Ensure settings are readable before cleanup
import { accessSync, constants } from 'node:fs';
accessSync(USER_SETTINGS_PATH, constants.R_OK);

Type guard

function isFlatSettings(v: unknown): v is Record<string, unknown> {
  return typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v);
}

Try / catch

let flat: Record<string, unknown> | null;
try {
  flat = readFlatSettings(USER_SETTINGS_PATH);
} catch (error) {
  console.warn('[uninstall] Could not read settings for server runtime cleanup:', error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
  return; // skip key removal, continue uninstall
}

Prevention

Verify read permission on settings.json before uninstall
Fix JSON syntax errors before running cleanup commands
Don't delete the settings file mid-operation
Manually strip server keys afterward if the warning appeared

When it happens

Trigger: Running `claude-mem uninstall` when reading the user settings file fails (file missing, permission denied, or invalid JSON inside readFlatSettings).

Common situations: Corrupted or hand-edited settings.json; restrictive permissions after running commands with sudo; settings file removed mid-uninstall; unreadable home directory on shared systems.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to read file", EACCES, ENOENT and "could not read <path>" errors: when a program can't read a file from disk — this error's family across 49 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of thedotmack/claude-mem@d8bc9755e7 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6c28c26798bfb18. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/npx-cli/commands/uninstall.ts:47

// the matching teardown. The worker path is the default and is unchanged: only
// when the recorded runtime is the server runtime do we run the extra teardown.
function readSelectedRuntime(): InstallRuntimeId {
  try {
    const settings = SettingsDefaultsManager.loadFromFile(USER_SETTINGS_PATH);
    return normalizeRuntimeFlag(settings.CLAUDE_MEM_RUNTIME) ?? 'worker';
  } catch (error: unknown) {
    const err = error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error));
    console.warn('[uninstall] Could not read selected runtime from settings, defaulting to worker:', err);
    return 'worker';
  }
}

function clearServerRuntimeSettings(keys: readonly string[]): void {
  let flat: Record<string, unknown> | null;
  try {
    flat = readFlatSettings(USER_SETTINGS_PATH);
  } catch (error: unknown) {
    console.warn('[uninstall] Could not read settings for server runtime cleanup:', error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
    return;
  }
  if (!flat) return;
  let changed = false;
  for (const key of keys) {
    if (key in flat) {
      delete flat[key];
      changed = true;
    }
  }
  if (changed) {
    try {
      writeSettingsJsonAtomic(USER_SETTINGS_PATH, flat);
    } catch (error: unknown) {
      console.warn('[uninstall] Could not write settings during server runtime cleanup:', error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error));
    }
  }
}

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