vectordotdev/vector · error

Failed to read

Error message

Failed to read {}: {}

What it means

During release preparation, update_vector_version rewrites version strings in files like Cargo.toml/lockfiles. This error wraps the fs::read_to_string failure, meaning the target file could not be read (missing, permission denied, or not valid UTF-8). It aborts the version-bump step for that file.

Solutions

1. Check the file exists at the printed path (`ls -l <path>`) and restore it (e.g. `git checkout -- <path>`) if missing.
2. Fix read permissions (`chmod u+r <path>`) or run from a checkout where the file is writable/readable.
3. If the file contains invalid UTF-8, restore the original from git or convert it to UTF-8 before re-running.

Example fix

// before
rm src/bin/vector/  # version file gone -> read fails
// after
git checkout -- Cargo.toml && vdev release prepare ...

let path = "Cargo.toml";
if !std::path::Path::new(path).exists() {
    panic!("version file {path} missing before release prepare");
}

match std::fs::read_to_string(file_path) {
    Ok(_) => /* proceed */,
    Err(e) => eprintln!("restore file before re-running: {file_path:?}: {e}"),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Prepare::run during `vdev release prepare` when one of the configured version files does not exist at file_path, is unreadable, or contains invalid UTF-8.

Common situations: Repo layout changed upstream and a version file was renamed/moved; file locked by another process or wrong permissions; a binary/legacy-encoded file expected as text.

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

• Failed to write
• Could not find version
• Failed to bind to listener socket at path
• Failed to create output dir
• Failed to create output dir(s)

AI-assisted analysis of vectordotdev/vector@0d4ab78a4f (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/22e6bb925d315c21. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at vdev/src/commands/release/prepare.rs:154

    // Step 4
    fn generate_release_cue(&self) -> Result<()> {
        debug!("generate_release_cue");
        generate_cue::run(
            &self.new_vector_version,
            generate_cue::PullRequestMetadata::Required,
        )?;
        generate_cue::retire_all_fragments()?;

        self.append_vrl_changelog_to_release_cue()?;
        debug!("Generated release CUE file");
        Ok(())
    }

    /// Steps 5 & 6: Replace old version with the new version.
    fn update_vector_version(&self, file_path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
        debug!("update_vector_version for {file_path:?}");
        let contents = fs::read_to_string(file_path)
            .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to read {}: {}", file_path.display(), e))?;

        let latest_version = &self.latest_vector_version;
        let new_version = &self.new_vector_version;
        let old_version_str = format!("{}.{}", latest_version.major, latest_version.minor);

        if !contents.contains(&old_version_str) {
            return Err(anyhow!(
                "Could not find version {} to update in {}",
                latest_version,
                file_path.display()
            ));
        }

        let updated_contents = replace_version_references(&contents, latest_version, new_version);

        fs::write(file_path, updated_contents)
            .map_err(|e| anyhow!("Failed to write {}: {}", file_path.display(), e))?;

View on GitHub (pinned to 0d4ab78a4f)