zed-industries/zed · error · std::io::Error

Invalid PID file contents

Error message

Invalid PID file contents

What it means

Fires in execute_proxy when the server's PID file exists but its contents cannot be parsed as a valid PID. This means stale or corrupted state in the remote server's data directory, usually from a previous crash or manual tampering with the PID file.

Source

Thrown at crates/remote_server/src/server.rs:903

                    return Err(ExecuteProxyError::ServerNotRunning(
                        ProxyLaunchError::ServerNotRunning,
                    ));
                }
                Some(server_pid) => server_pid,
            }
        } else {
            if let Some(pid) = server_pid {
                log::info!(
                    "proxy found server already running with PID {}. Killing process and cleaning up files...",
                    pid
                );
                kill_running_server(pid, &server_paths)?;
            }
            gpui::block_on(spawn_server(&server_paths)).map_err(ExecuteProxyError::SpawnServer)?;
            std::fs::read_to_string(&server_paths.pid_file)
                .and_then(|contents| {
                    contents.parse::<u32>().map_err(|_| {
                        std::io::Error::new(
                            std::io::ErrorKind::InvalidData,
                            "Invalid PID file contents",
                        )
                    })
                })
                .map_err(SpawnServerError::ProcessStatus)
                .map_err(ExecuteProxyError::SpawnServer)?
        }
    };

    let stdin_task = smol::spawn(async move {
        let stdin = smol::Unblock::new(std::io::stdin());
        let stream = UnixStream::connect(&server_paths.stdin_socket)
            .await
            .with_context(|| {
                format!(
                    "Failed to connect to stdin socket {}",
                    server_paths.stdin_socket.display()

View on GitHub (pinned to 9d272b0363)

Solutions

1. Delete the stale PID file in the remote server data directory so a fresh one is written on next launch
2. Ensure no leftover server process is running before relaunching
3. Reconnect; the proxy treats this as server-not-running and starts a new server

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/remote_server/src/server.rs:903 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@9d272b0363 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3817302e42186498. Report an issue: GitHub.