zylon-ai/private-gpt · error · RuntimeError

Failed to convert {file_info.file_data} to {target_extension

Error message

Failed to convert {file_info.file_data} to {target_extension}: {e}

What it means

RuntimeError raised by convert_file_with_libreoffice when the soffice subprocess exits non-zero (CalledProcessError) and raise_in_exception is true. The message includes the source file, target extension, and the subprocess error output. When raise_in_exception is false the original path is returned instead.

Source

Thrown at private_gpt/components/ingest/utils.py:449

        subprocess.run(
            [
                "soffice",
                "--headless",
                "--convert-to",
                target_extension.lstrip("."),
                "--outdir",
                str(output_path.parent),
                str(file_info.file_data),
            ],
            check=True,
        )
    except FileNotFoundError as e:
        raise ImportError(
            "LibreOffice is required for file conversion. Please install LibreOffice."
        ) from e
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
        if raise_in_exception:
            raise RuntimeError(
                f"Failed to convert {file_info.file_data} to {target_extension}: {e}"
            ) from e
        return file_info.file_data  # Return the original file on failure
    return output_path


def convert_file(
    file_info: FileInfo,
    conversion_func: Callable[[FileInfo, str, bool], Path],
    target_extension: str,
    raise_in_exception: bool = False,
) -> FileInfo:
    try:
        converted_path = conversion_func(
            file_info, target_extension, raise_in_exception
        )
        new_file_name = (
            file_info.file_name.replace(file_info.extension, converted_path.suffix)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4a030776a3)

Solutions

Try opening the file locally with LibreOffice to reproduce the conversion failure.
Remove password protection or repair/re-save the document.
Clear the LibreOffice user profile lock (-env:UserInstallation=file:///tmp/lo_profile) when running parallel conversions.
If partial failure is acceptable, call with raise_in_exception=False so the original file is returned for the fallback reader path.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Try / catch

try:
    converted = convert_unsupported_file(file_info, raise_in_exception=True)
except RuntimeError as e:
    logger.warning('strict conversion failed (%s); retrying lenient', e)
    converted = convert_unsupported_file(file_info, raise_in_exception=False)  # returns original on failure

Prevention

Use strict mode only when you can act on failure; lenient mode returns the original file for the fallback reader.
Smoke-test conversion of each distinct Office format users upload after image rebuilds.

When it happens

Trigger: Converting a corrupt or password-protected Office document with LibreOffice in strict mode: soffice runs but fails (exit code != 0), e.g. malformed .doc, encrypted file, or unsupported conversion target.

Common situations: Password-protected legacy Office uploads; partially transferred/corrupt files; LibreOffice profile lock contention under concurrent conversions in the same container.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zylon-ai/private-gpt@4a030776a3 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e76b306c66e1580a. Report an issue: GitHub.