wavetermdev/waveterm · error

accessing file %s: %w

Error message

accessing file %s: %w

What it means

Wraps the error from os.Stat(filePath) for each non-stdin argument in `wsh ai`. It fires when the path cannot be stat'ed — typically it does not exist, or the user lacks permission on a parent directory. The wrapped error (e.g. *fs.PathError with ENOENT/EACCES) is preserved via %w.

Source

Thrown at cmd/wsh/cmd/wshcmd-ai.go:110

		var mimeType string
		var err error

		if filePath == "-" {
			if stdinUsed {
				return fmt.Errorf("stdin (-) can only be used once")
			}
			stdinUsed = true

			data, err = io.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("reading from stdin: %w", err)
			}
			fileName = "stdin"
			mimeType = "text/plain"
		} else {
			fileInfo, err := os.Stat(filePath)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("accessing file %s: %w", filePath, err)
			}
			absPath, err := filepath.Abs(filePath)
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("getting absolute path for %s: %w", filePath, err)
			}

			if fileInfo.IsDir() {
				result, err := fileutil.ReadDir(filePath, 500)
				if err != nil {
					return fmt.Errorf("reading directory %s: %w", filePath, err)
				}
				jsonData, err := json.Marshal(result)
				if err != nil {
					return fmt.Errorf("marshaling directory listing for %s: %w", filePath, err)
				}
				data = jsonData
				fileName = absPath
				mimeType = "directory"

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Verify the path exists: run `ls -l <path>` (or `test -e <path> && echo ok`) in the same shell/cwd before invoking wsh ai.
2. Check spelling and that relative paths resolve from the current working directory; use absolute paths in scripts.
3. Fix permissions on the file or its parent directories (chmod/chown, or run with appropriate access).
4. If it's a dangling symlink, point to the real target file.

Example fix

// before
$ wsh ai ./confg/app.yaml
// error: accessing file ./confg/app.yaml: no such file or directory
// after
$ wsh ai ./config/app.yaml

for f in "$@"; do
  [ -e "$f" ] || { echo "not found: $f" >&2; exit 1; }
done
wsh ai "$@"

if err := runAI(args); err != nil {
    var perr *fs.PathError
    if errors.As(err, &perr) && errors.Is(perr.Err, syscall.ENOENT) {
        return fmt.Errorf("path %q does not exist (check spelling and cwd)", perr.Path)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any `wsh ai <path>` where path is missing, misspelled, a dangling symlink, or inaccessible due to directory permissions; also relative paths typed from the wrong working directory.

Common situations: Typo in filename, running wsh from a different cwd than expected in scripts, deleted files still referenced in a script, permission-restricted paths (e.g. /var/log/... as non-root).

Related errors

• reading directory %s: %w
• reading file %s: %w
• getting absolute path for %s: %w
• error creating listener at %v: %v
• file does not exist: %q

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9757483dca2e1f8a. Report an issue: GitHub.