webpack/webpack · error · Error

Empty file ${name}

Error message

Empty file ${name}

What it means

FileMiddleware.deserialize asks `readFile(name)` for an array of Buffers; if it returns an empty array the file contains no data at all and the function throws `Empty file <name>` (lib/serialization/FileMiddleware.js:277). This is the first of two emptiness guards and catches a wholly empty result list.

Source

Thrown at lib/serialization/FileMiddleware.js:277

		size,
		name,
		backgroundJob:
			backgroundJobs.length === 1
				? backgroundJobs[0]
				: /** @type {BackgroundJob} */ (Promise.all(backgroundJobs))
	};
};

/**
 * Restores this instance from the provided deserializer context.
 * @param {FileMiddleware} middleware this
 * @param {string | false} name filename
 * @param {(name: string | false) => Promise<Buffer[]>} readFile read content of a file
 * @returns {Promise<BufferSerializableType[]>} deserialized data
 */
const deserialize = async (middleware, name, readFile) => {
	const contents = await readFile(name);
	if (contents.length === 0) throw new Error(`Empty file ${name}`);
	let contentsIndex = 0;
	let contentItem = contents[0];
	let contentItemLength = contentItem.length;
	let contentPosition = 0;
	if (contentItemLength === 0) throw new Error(`Empty file ${name}`);
	const nextContent = () => {
		contentsIndex++;
		contentItem = contents[contentsIndex];
		contentItemLength = contentItem.length;
		contentPosition = 0;
	};
	/**
	 * Processes the provided n.
	 * @param {number} n number of bytes to ensure
	 */
	const ensureData = (n) => {
		if (contentPosition === contentItemLength) {
			nextContent();

View on GitHub (pinned to 318421ea8a)

Solutions

1. Delete the zero-byte file (and the surrounding cache directory) and rebuild.
2. If using a custom `inputFileSystem`, ensure it returns `[Buffer.alloc(0)]` rather than `[]` for empty files — or avoid creating empty cache files.
3. Check that no other process is truncating cache files.
4. Free disk space and verify write permissions.

Example fix

// before: zero-byte cache file -> [] from readFile -> error
// after
//   rm node_modules/.cache/webpack/<name> && yarn webpack

// Purge zero-byte files before running webpack
const fs = require('fs');
for (const f of walk(cacheLocation)) if (fs.statSync(f).size === 0) fs.unlinkSync(f);

compiler.hooks.failed.tap('EmptyCacheGuard', (err) => {
  if (/^Empty file/.test(err.message)) {
    require('fs').rmSync(cacheLocation, { recursive: true, force: true });
  }
});

When it happens

Trigger: A cache file exists but `readFile` resolved with `[]` — zero chunks. Happens when the read pipeline returns nothing (e.g. a stream that ended before emitting data, or a stub filesystem in a host that yields no buffers).

Common situations: Memory FS or custom `inputFileSystem` returning [] on an empty file; race where the file was truncated to zero length before the read completed; an interrupted prior write left a 0-byte file that the reader hands back as no chunks.

Related errors

• Unexpected end of data
• Invalid section count ${sectionCount}
• Truncated pointer section
• Section table does not match file size
• Unexpected end of stream

AI-assisted analysis of webpack/webpack@318421ea8a (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/b6330eb41fdb6b76.json. Report an issue: GitHub.