Troubleshooting

"auto_add_allow_patterns contains overly broad pattern"

Your watch allowlist is too broad. Patterns must be scoped to paths with a /.

Examples of allowed patterns:

[watch]
auto_add_allow_patterns = [".config/**", ".local/bin/*"]

Examples that are rejected:

• *, **, **/*
• *.txt (no path separator)
• /etc/passwd (absolute path)

"unsupported secrets backend"

Only the age backend is supported. Set:

[secrets]
backend = "age"

"secrets.sidecar_suffix cannot be empty"

If secrets are enabled, you must have a non-empty suffix (default .age).

Secrets decrypt errors

Common causes:

• Missing identity file
• Wrong recipients
• Ciphertext is corrupt

Check your config:

[secrets]
recipients = ["age1..."]
identity_files = ["~/.config/hometree/keys/identity.txt"]

verify reports unexpected files (strict mode)

Strict mode flags files under managed roots that are not in the target tree. Either remove them, ignore them, or re-run without --strict.

Daemon status not reachable

If hometree daemon status cannot reach the socket:

• Confirm watch.enabled = true
• Start the daemon: hometree daemon run --foreground
• Or use systemd: hometree daemon install-systemd then hometree daemon start

Deploy refuses to overwrite directories

Deploy will not replace a directory with a file or vice versa. Remove or move the conflicting path and retry.