Temp-dir vs workdir and persistent error

Help and Support
1

What is the problem you are having with rclone?

I alway had rclone running through a script on my Mac scheduled via cron. Now I created a plist for launchd, and I'm getting the error as mentioned below and no idea where to look for it or how to solve. I've set a temp-dir, and also a workdir, still not working. Trying with --resync...no success either.

This is the error:

ERROR : Bisync critical error: cannot find prior Path1 or Path2 listings, likely due to critical error on prior run 
Tip: here are the filenames we were looking for. Do they exist? 
Path1: /tmp/rclone/bisync/Volumes_DAG_related_Doc's_DAG_-_Office_Data..vdag__DAG_Data_Office_Data.path1.lst
Path2: /tmp/rclone/bisync/Volumes_DAG_related_Doc's_DAG_-_Office_Data..vdag__DAG_Data_Office_Data.path2.lst
Try running this command to inspect the work dir: 
rclone lsl "/tmp/rclone/bisync"

Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

rclone v1.75.0

  • os/version: darwin 26.5.2 (64 bit)
  • os/kernel: 25.5.0 (arm64)
  • os/type: darwin
  • os/arch: arm64 (ARMv8 compatible)
  • go/version: go1.26.5
  • go/linking: dynamic
  • go/tags: noneWhich cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

The command you were trying to run (eg rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp)

\\\
"$_rclone" bisync "$local_dir" "$remote_dir" \
    --config="$config" \
    --check-access \
    --create-empty-src-dirs \
    --compare size,modtime \
    --modify-window 1s \
    --fix-case \
    --track-renames \
    --metadata \
    --recover \
    --max-lock 2m \
    --conflict-resolve newer \
    --conflict-loser num \
    --ignore-listing-checksum \
    --slow-hash-sync-only \
    --max-delete 5 \
    --transfers=32 \
    --checkers=32 \
    --multi-thread-streams=32 \
    --buffer-size=512Mi \
    --retries 2 \
    --log-file="$tmp_log_sync" \
    --log-file-max-size 5M \
    --log-file-max-backups 20 \
    --log-file-compress \
    --progress \
    --log-level INFO \
    --backup-dir2 "vdag:Trash" \
    --exclude "vdag:Trash" \
    --resilient \
    --workdir=/Users/patrice/rclone/tmp/workdir \
    --temp-dir=/Users/patrice/rclone/tmp/cache \
    --resync
\\\

Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get command not found, please make sure to update rclone.

\\\
[koofr]
type = koofr
provider = koofr
user = XXX
password = XXX

[koofr_docs]
type = koofr
provider = koofr
user = XXX
password = XXX

[vdag]
type = crypt
remote = koofr:/Vaults/vDAG
filename_encryption = standard
directory_name_encryption = true
password = XXX
password2 = XXX

[vpics]
type = crypt
remote = koofr:/Vaults/vPics
filename_encryption = standard
directory_name_encryption = true
password = XXX
password2 = XXX
\\\

A log from the command that you were trying to run with the -vv flag

\\\
2026/08/13 15:45:06 INFO  : Bisyncing with Comparison Settings: 
{
	"Modtime": true,
	"Size": true,
	"Checksum": false,
	"HashType1": 0,
	"HashType2": 0,
	"NoSlowHash": false,
	"SlowHashSyncOnly": true,
	"SlowHashDetected": true,
	"DownloadHash": false
}
2026/08/13 15:45:06 INFO  : lock file renewed for 2m0s. New expiration: 2026-08-13 15:47:06.049648 -0400 -04 m=+122.027379876
2026/08/13 15:45:06 INFO  : Synching Path1 "/Volumes/DAG related Doc's/DAG - Office Data/" with Path2 "vdag:/DAG_Data/Office_Data/"
Transferred:   	          0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Elapsed time:         0.0sTransferred:   	          0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Elapsed time:         0.4s2026/08/13 15:45:07 ERROR : Bisync critical error: cannot find prior Path1 or Path2 listings, likely due to critical error on prior run 
Tip: here are the filenames we were looking for. Do they exist? 
Path1: /tmp/rclone/bisync/Volumes_DAG_related_Doc's_DAG_-_Office_Data..vdag__DAG_Data_Office_Data.path1.lst
Path2: /tmp/rclone/bisync/Volumes_DAG_related_Doc's_DAG_-_Office_Data..vdag__DAG_Data_Office_Data.path2.lst
Try running this command to inspect the work dir: 
rclone lsl "/tmp/rclone/bisync"
2026/08/13 15:45:07 ERROR : Bisync aborted. Error is retryable without --resync due to --resilient mode.
Transferred:   	          0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (fatal error encountered)
Elapsed time:         0.8s
2026/08/13 15:45:07 INFO  : 
Transferred:   	          0 B / 0 B, -, 0 B/s, ETA -
Errors:                 1 (fatal error encountered)
Elapsed time:         0.8s

2026/08/13 15:45:07 NOTICE: Failed to bisync: bisync aborted
\\\
2

hi, have you seen Local File System Permissions via launchd with a possible solution from @kapitainsky

3

This is not really rclone issue per se.

As launchd loads outside a standard user shell I suspect launchd vs your shell $TMPDIR difference.

The system path /tmp (aliased to /private/tmp) is shared globally, while $TMPDIR points to a unique, secure per-user path (such as /var/folders/.../T/) created dynamically for each logged-in user.

Configure your .plist ProgramArguments to invoke /bin/sh and evaluate $TMPDIR explicitly.

Add the EnvironmentVariables dictionary key inside your plist to explicitly pass variables like $TMPDIR

For debug you can try plist like:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>/bin/sh</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>echo "/tmp and User: $TMPDIR" > /tmp/shared_debug.txt</string>
</array>