yamadashy/repomix · error

Failed to filter files in directory

Error message

Failed to filter files in directory ${rootDir}. Reason: ${error.message}

What it means

Generic wrapper error from searchFiles: any non-PermissionError Error thrown while filtering files (globby scan, filtering, etc.) is caught, logged, and rethrown with the root directory and original message attached. PermissionError instances are rethrown unchanged.

Solutions

1. Read the 'Reason:' suffix in the message — it contains the underlying error — and fix that root cause.
2. Check your repomix.json include/ignore glob patterns for typos or invalid syntax.
3. If the reason is EMFILE, raise the file descriptor limit (ulimit -n) or reduce the size of the scanned tree.
4. Retry after fixing; if the underlying cause is a permission issue, address it per the PermissionError guidance.

Example fix

// before: invalid include pattern in repomix.config.json
"include": ["src/[!"]

// after
"include": ["src/**/*"]

// Pre-validate glob patterns before packing
const patterns = config.include.concat(config.ignore);
for (const p of patterns) {
  if (p.includes('[') && !/^\[!?.*\]$/.test(p.split('/').find(s => s.startsWith('[')) ?? '')) {
    throw new Error(`Suspicious glob pattern: ${p}`);
  }
}

const isPermissionError = (e: unknown): e is Error & { name: 'PermissionError' } =>
  e instanceof Error && e.name === 'PermissionError';

try {
  await repomix.pack({ input: { rootDir } });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message.startsWith('Failed to filter files in directory')) {
    console.error('Underlying cause:', e.message.split('Reason: ')[1]);
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any Error thrown inside searchFiles' try block other than PermissionError — e.g. malformed file patterns, globby internal failures, or filesystem errors with codes other than EPERM/EACCES.

Common situations: Invalid glob patterns in repomix config, unusual filesystem errors (EMFILE too many open files, EIO), or plugin/config issues producing bad include patterns.

Related errors

• An unexpected error occurred while filtering files.
• Permission denied while scanning directory. Please check…
• Config file not found at
• Could not read the remote repository's config
• Failed to build full directory structure

AI-assisted analysis of yamadashy/repomix@f465ad9093 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8552f4e3d1d9242d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/core/file/fileSearch.ts:348

    logger.debug(
      `[result] Total files: ${confinedFilePaths.length}, empty directories: ${confinedEmptyDirPaths.length}`,
    );
    logger.trace(`Filtered ${confinedFilePaths.length} files`);

    return {
      filePaths: sortPaths(confinedFilePaths),
      emptyDirPaths: sortPaths(confinedEmptyDirPaths),
    };
  } catch (error: unknown) {
    // Re-throw PermissionError as is
    if (error instanceof PermissionError) {
      throw error;
    }

    if (error instanceof Error) {
      logger.error('Error filtering files:', error.message);
      throw new Error(`Failed to filter files in directory ${rootDir}. Reason: ${error.message}`);
    }

    logger.error('An unexpected error occurred:', error);
    throw new Error('An unexpected error occurred while filtering files.');
  }
};

export const parseIgnoreContent = (content: string): string[] => {
  if (!content) return [];

  return content.split('\n').reduce<string[]>((acc, line) => {
    const trimmedLine = line.trim();
    if (trimmedLine && !trimmedLine.startsWith('#')) {
      acc.push(trimmedLine);
    }
    return acc;
  }, []);
};

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