zed-industries/zed · error · anyhow::Error

Image format {format:?} not supported

Error message

Image format {format:?} not supported

What it means

ImageStore builds previews via create_gpui_image (crates/project/src/image_store.rs:934): image::guess_format sniffs the bytes, then the detected format is mapped onto a gpui::ImageFormat. Only Png, Jpeg, WebP, Gif, Bmp, Tiff, Ico and Pnm are mapped; every other format the image crate can detect (Avif, Tga, Dds, OpenExr, Qoi, Farbfeld, Hdr, ...) falls into the catch-all arm and bails.

Source

Thrown at crates/project/src/image_store.rs:947

        Some(())
    }
}

fn create_gpui_image(content: Vec<u8>) -> anyhow::Result<Arc<gpui::Image>> {
    let format = image::guess_format(&content)?;

    Ok(Arc::new(gpui::Image::from_bytes(
        match format {
            image::ImageFormat::Png => gpui::ImageFormat::Png,
            image::ImageFormat::Jpeg => gpui::ImageFormat::Jpeg,
            image::ImageFormat::WebP => gpui::ImageFormat::Webp,
            image::ImageFormat::Gif => gpui::ImageFormat::Gif,
            image::ImageFormat::Bmp => gpui::ImageFormat::Bmp,
            image::ImageFormat::Tiff => gpui::ImageFormat::Tiff,
            image::ImageFormat::Ico => gpui::ImageFormat::Ico,
            image::ImageFormat::Pnm => gpui::ImageFormat::Pnm,
            format => anyhow::bail!("Image format {format:?} not supported"),
        },
        content,
    )))
}

View on GitHub (pinned to f4178619ac)

Solutions

1. Convert the file to a supported format: magick input.avif output.png
2. Re-export from the source tool as PNG/JPEG/WebP/GIF/BMP/TIFF/ICO/PNM
3. Watch or upvote upstream gpui support for the format instead of patching around it

Example fix

# before
open input.avif  ->  "Image format Avif not supported"

# after (convert once, then open)
magick input.avif output.png

let format = image::guess_format(&content)?;
if !is_supported_image_format(format) {
    // skip preview or show a friendly "unsupported format" message
    return Ok(None);
}

fn is_supported_image_format(format: image::ImageFormat) -> bool {
    matches!(
        format,
        image::ImageFormat::Png
            | image::ImageFormat::Jpeg
            | image::ImageFormat::WebP
            | image::ImageFormat::Gif
            | image::ImageFormat::Bmp
            | image::ImageFormat::Tiff
            | image::ImageFormat::Ico
            | image::ImageFormat::Pnm
    )
}

match create_gpui_image(content.clone()) {
    Ok(image) => image,
    Err(e) if e.to_string().starts_with("Image format") => {
        // show placeholder instead of failing the whole preview flow
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Opening an image file whose detected format is not one of the eight supported ones - e.g. .avif, .tga, .dds, .exr, .qoi, .ff/.farbfeld, .hdr - in Zed's image preview.

Common situations: AVIF screenshots (increasingly default on phones), game textures (dds/qoi/tga), HDR/EXR output from graphics tools.

Related errors

• GIF could not be decoded: all frames failed

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@f4178619ac (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8119557ac5c15645. Report an issue: GitHub.