Filesystem

The fs module reads, writes, and manages files within configured filesystem volumes.

This page is an API reference. Its snippets assume a configured volume and permission to acquire it. Each block is an isolated operation or partial recipe; application values and callbacks such as config, message, process, and report_cleanup_error must already exist. report_cleanup_error(err) records a close failure without replacing an operation error that already occurred.

For filesystem configuration, see Filesystem.

Loading

local fs = require("fs")

Acquiring a Volume

Acquire a filesystem volume by registry ID:

local vol, err = fs.get("app:storage")
if err then
    return nil, err
end

local content, read_err = vol:readfile("/config.json")
if read_err then return nil, read_err end
return content

Returns: FS, error

Reading Files

Read an entire file:

local json = require("json")

local vol, get_err = fs.get("app:config")
if get_err then return nil, get_err end

local data, err = vol:readfile("/settings.json")
if err then
    return nil, err
end

local config, decode_err = json.decode(data)
if decode_err then return nil, decode_err end
return config

Use open() to stream a large file:

local errors = require("errors")

local file, err = vol:open("/data/large.csv", "r")
if err then
    return nil, err
end

while true do
    local chunk, err = file:read(65536)
    if err then
        if err:kind() == errors.NOT_FOUND then
            break -- EOF
        end
        local _, close_err = file:close()
        if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
        return nil, err
    end
    process(chunk)
end

local _, close_err = file:close()
if close_err then return nil, close_err end

Writing Files

Write a string or reader-backed stream to a file:

local json = require("json")

local vol, get_err = fs.get("app:data")
if get_err then return nil, get_err end

-- Overwrite (default)
local encoded, encode_err = json.encode(config)
if encode_err then return nil, encode_err end
local _, write_err = vol:writefile("/config.json", encoded)
if write_err then return nil, write_err end

-- Append
local _, append_err = vol:writefile("/logs/app.log", message .. "\n", "a")
if append_err then return nil, append_err end

-- Exclusive write (fails if exists)
local ok, err = vol:writefile("/lock.pid", tostring(pid), "wx")
if err then return nil, err end

-- Copy from an open file or another reader-backed value
local source, err = vol:open("/incoming/report.csv", "r")
if err then
    return nil, err
end
local copied, err = vol:writefile("/archive/report.csv", source)
local _, close_err = source:close()
if err then
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, err
end
if close_err then return nil, close_err end
return copied

Use a file handle for streaming writes:

local file, open_err = vol:open("/output/report.txt", "w")
if open_err then return nil, open_err end
local _, header_err = file:write("Header\n")
if header_err then
    local _, close_err = file:close()
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, header_err
end
local _, data_err = file:write("Data: " .. value .. "\n")
if data_err then
    local _, close_err = file:close()
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, data_err
end
local _, sync_err = file:sync()
if sync_err then
    local _, close_err = file:close()
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, sync_err
end
local _, close_err = file:close()
if close_err then return nil, close_err end

Checking Paths

local vol, get_err = fs.get("app:data")
if get_err then return nil, get_err end

-- Check existence
local exists, exists_err = vol:exists("/cache/results.json")
if exists_err then return nil, exists_err end
if exists then
    return vol:readfile("/cache/results.json")
end

-- Check if directory
local is_dir, isdir_err = vol:isdir(path)
if isdir_err then return nil, isdir_err end
if is_dir then
    process_directory(path)
end

-- Get file info
local info, stat_err = vol:stat("/documents/report.pdf")
if stat_err then return nil, stat_err end
print(info.size, info.modified, info.type)

Stat fields: name, size, mode, modified, is_dir, type

Directory Operations

local vol, get_err = fs.get("app:data")
if get_err then return nil, get_err end

-- Create directory
local _, mkdir_err = vol:mkdir("/uploads/" .. user_id)
if mkdir_err then return nil, mkdir_err end

-- List directory contents
local iter, state = vol:readdir("/documents")
if not iter then return nil, state end
for entry in iter, state do
    print(entry.name, entry.type)
end

-- Remove file or empty directory
local removed, remove_err = vol:remove("/temp/file.txt")
if remove_err then return nil, remove_err end
return removed

Entry fields: name, type ("file" or "directory")

mkdir creates one directory and does not create missing parents. remove accepts files and empty directories only.

File Handle Methods

When using vol:open() for streaming:

Call close() after finishing with a file handle.

Scanner

Use a scanner for line-by-line processing:

local file, err = vol:open("/data/users.csv", "r")
if err then
    return nil, err
end
local scanner, err = file:scanner("lines")
if err then
    local _, close_err = file:close()
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, err
end

scanner:scan()  -- skip header

while scanner:scan() do
    local line = scanner:text()
    process(line)
end

local scan_err = scanner:err()
if scan_err then
    local _, close_err = file:close()
    if close_err then report_cleanup_error(close_err) end
    return nil, scan_err
end

local _, close_err = file:close()
if close_err then return nil, close_err end

Split modes: "lines" (default), "words", "bytes", "runes"

scanner:scan() returns only a boolean. When it returns false, call scanner:err() to distinguish clean EOF from a tokenization or underlying read failure. scanner:err() returns a structured INTERNAL error or nil; unlike a stream scanner, a file scanner has no separate scan-dispatch error return.

Constants

fs.type.FILE      -- "file"
fs.type.DIR       -- "directory"

fs.seek.SET       -- from start
fs.seek.CUR       -- from current
fs.seek.END       -- from end

FS Methods

Permissions

Security policy evaluation applies when a volume is acquired.

Errors

unspecified means err:retryable() returns nil; it is not equivalent to false.

See Error Handling for working with errors.