zed-industries/zed · error

pathbuf should not be nul terminated

Error message

pathbuf should not be nul terminated

What it means

In the Linux save-file dialog path, the suggested file name is converted with CString-like handling; the expect asserts the pathbuf/name contains no interior NUL bytes. A path containing '\0' cannot be passed to the file chooser portal, so the request panics instead of silently truncating.

Source

Thrown at crates/gpui_linux/src/linux/platform.rs:542

        let _ = (done_tx.send(Ok(None)), directory, suggested_name);

        #[cfg(any(feature = "wayland", feature = "x11"))]
        let identifier = self.inner.window_identifier();

        #[cfg(any(feature = "wayland", feature = "x11"))]
        self.foreground_executor()
            .spawn({
                let directory = directory.to_owned();
                let suggested_name = suggested_name.map(|s| s.to_owned());

                async move {
                    let mut request_builder =
                        ashpd::desktop::file_chooser::SaveFileRequest::default()
                            .identifier(identifier.await)
                            .modal(true)
                            .title("Save File")
                            .current_folder(directory)
                            .expect("pathbuf should not be nul terminated");

                    if let Some(suggested_name) = suggested_name {
                        request_builder = request_builder.current_name(suggested_name.as_str());
                    }

                    let request = match request_builder.send().await {
                        Ok(request) => request,
                        Err(err) => {
                            let result = match err {
                                ashpd::Error::PortalNotFound(_) => {
                                    anyhow!(FILE_PICKER_PORTAL_MISSING)
                                }
                                err => err.into(),
                            };
                            let _ = done_tx.send(Err(result));
                            return;
                        }
                    };

View on GitHub (pinned to 9d272b0363)

Solutions

1. Sanitize suggested names/directories, rejecting or stripping NUL bytes before the dialog
2. Return a user-visible error for invalid paths instead of panicking
3. Check where the suggested name originates (remote data may embed NULs)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/gpui_linux/src/linux/platform.rs:487 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/8483d1e97a9cd906. Report an issue: GitHub.