xai-org/grok-build · error

{label} exited with {}: {}

Error message

{label} exited with {}: {}

What it means

`checked_command_stdout` wraps external clipboard helper commands (osascript, pbpaste, etc.) and bails when the child process exits non-zero, embedding the exit status and trimmed stderr in the message. It surfaces the underlying tool's own failure text to the caller.

Source

Thrown at crates/codegen/xai-grok-shared/src/clipboard.rs:784

            // regions cannot overlap.
            unsafe {
                std::ptr::copy_nonoverlapping(bytes_ptr as *const u8, buf.as_mut_ptr(), len);
            }
            Some(super::ImageData {
                data: buf,
                mime_type: mime.to_owned(),
            })
        })
    }

    pub(super) fn checked_command_stdout(
        label: &str,
        output: std::io::Result<std::process::Output>,
    ) -> anyhow::Result<Vec<u8>> {
        let output = output.map_err(|error| anyhow::anyhow!("failed to run {label}: {error}"))?;
        if !output.status.success() {
            let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
            anyhow::bail!("{label} exited with {}: {}", output.status, stderr.trim());
        }
        Ok(output.stdout)
    }

    fn attachments_probe_temp_paths() -> (std::path::PathBuf, std::path::PathBuf, std::path::PathBuf)
    {
        let temp_dir = std::env::temp_dir();
        (
            temp_dir.join("grok-clipboard-probe.png"),
            temp_dir.join("grok-clipboard-probe.tiff"),
            temp_dir.join("grok-clipboard-probe.jpg"),
        )
    }

    fn read_clipboard_image_from_class(
        class: &str,
        path_png: &std::path::Path,
        path_tiff: &std::path::Path,

View on GitHub (pinned to bc7f02eddd)

Solutions

1. Read the stderr portion of the message to see the helper's own diagnostic and fix that root cause
2. On macOS grant the terminal app Accessibility/Automation permission to control clipboard (System Settings > Privacy & Security)
3. Verify the helper binary exists and works by running it manually with the same arguments
4. Retry the clipboard operation — transient pasteboard contention can cause one-shot failures

// Verify the helper works before relying on it (macOS example)
fn helper_ok(bin: &str) -> bool {
    std::process::Command::new(bin).arg("-e").arg("return 0").output()
        .map(|o| o.status.success()).unwrap_or(false)
}

match clipboard::get_text() {
    Ok(t) => use_text(&t),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("exited with") => {
        eprintln!("clipboard helper failed: {e}");
        retry_with_backoff(3, || clipboard::get_text());
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e.into()),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling set_text/get_text/get_image or the macOS attachments osascript flow when the spawned helper exits non-zero — e.g. osascript blocked by TCC permissions, pbpaste with no pasteboard access, or the binary missing/segfaulting.

Common situations: macOS Terminal/IDE lacking Automation permissions for clipboard Apple events; sandboxed or SSH sessions where the helper cannot reach the pasteboard; a distro where the installed clipboard tool prints an error on stderr.

Related errors

• pbcopy exited with status {status}
• osascript failed: {stderr}
• {bin} exited with status {status}
• failed to run {label}: {error}
• failed to spawn pbcopy: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of xai-org/grok-build@bc7f02eddd (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8a256f301400e81f. Report an issue: GitHub.