tinyhumansai/openhuman · error

failed to load dotenv from OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH={path}: {e}

Error message

failed to load dotenv from OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH={path}: {e}

What it means

OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH is set to a non-empty value, and dotenvy::from_path failed on it — the file does not exist, is unreadable, or is malformed. This path is strict by design: an explicitly configured dotenv that silently fails would hide config differences. By contrast, when the variable is unset, the cwd `.env` discovery (`dotenvy::dotenv()`) ignores errors entirely.

Source

Thrown at src/core/cli.rs:341

        "sentry-test unavailable: built without the crash-reporting feature — \
         rebuild with `--features crash-reporting`"
    ))
}

/// Loads key/value pairs from a `.env` file into the process environment.
///
/// This is used for all CLI entrypoints so direct namespace commands pick up
/// the same repo-local configuration as `run` / `serve`.
///
/// Precedence:
/// 1. Variables already set in the process environment are **not** overwritten.
/// 2. If `OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH` is set, that file is loaded.
/// 3. Otherwise, it searches for `.env` in the current working directory.
pub(crate) fn load_dotenv_for_cli() -> Result<()> {
    match std::env::var("OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH") {
        Ok(path) if !path.trim().is_empty() => {
            dotenvy::from_path(&path).map_err(|e| {
                anyhow::anyhow!("failed to load dotenv from OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH={path}: {e}")
            })?;
        }
        _ => {
            let _ = dotenvy::dotenv();
        }
    }
    Ok(())
}

/// Handles the `run` subcommand to start the core HTTP/JSON-RPC server.
///
/// This command boots the main application server, including its JSON-RPC
/// endpoint, Socket.IO bridge, and background services (voice, vision, etc.).
///
/// # Arguments
///
/// * `args` - Command-line arguments for the `run` command (e.g., `--port`).
fn run_server_command(args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {

View on GitHub (pinned to a221052e0d)

Solutions

1. Verify the target: `ls -l "$OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH"` and confirm it exists and is readable
2. Point the variable at the correct file, preferably with an absolute path
3. If cwd `.env` discovery is what you want, unset the variable: `unset OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH`

Example fix

# before
export OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH=.env.local   # file does not exist
openhuman run
# after
export OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH=/abs/path/to/repo/.env.local
openhuman run
# or fall back to cwd discovery
unset OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH

# bash: check the explicit dotenv target before any openhuman command
if [ -n "${OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH:-}" ] && [ ! -r "$OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH" ]; then
  echo "OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH is not a readable file: $OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH" >&2; exit 1
fi

When it happens

Trigger: OPENHUMAN_DOTENV_PATH points to a nonexistent or misspelled file; the file lacks read permission; the .env has dotenv syntax errors; the path is relative and the process cwd differs from the assumed one.

Common situations: A stale variable exported in a shell profile or CI job pointing at a moved/removed file; container mounts that place .env elsewhere; deploying with a different user that cannot read the file.

Related errors

• OPENAI_API_KEY is required unless --no-ai or --dry-run is us
• empty value for {arg}
• Sentry is not initialized in this binary — no DSN is resolva
• memory driver `{driver_id}` does not advertise the `{cap}` c
• memory driver `{driver_id}` is not the embedded TinyCortex d

AI-assisted analysis of tinyhumansai/openhuman@a221052e0d (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d102c94aab80d261. Report an issue: GitHub.