# FILE_UNREADABLE

> a file ingest found a file it cannot read

**Error** · category **run** (a step failed while it ran) · exit **1** (an asset failed, or status --check found something unhealthy)

A file ingest found a file it cannot read.

The file exists, but croft cannot read it in its format: a JSON file that is not valid JSON, an NDJSON line that
is not a JSON object, a JSON or NDJSON file that is not UTF-8, a CSV whose rows do not all have the same columns,
a truncated or corrupt file, or a file croft has no permission to open. The message quotes DuckDB's or the
parser's words, and details.file (with details.line for NDJSON) says where.

Nothing was loaded for the step; files loaded before keep their rows.

What to do:
- Look at the file around the place named. A partial download or an export still being written is the usual
  cause: wait for it, or ask the user for a complete copy.
- A JSON file with one object per line: set format: "ndjson" in the asset.
- A CSV with a preamble or odd delimiters: declare csv: { delimiter, header, skip } in the asset (croft docs
  ingest). A file in another encoding than UTF-8: csv: { encoding: "latin-1" }; JSON must be UTF-8.
- A bad file that should not be loaded: narrow the glob so it does not match it, or ask the user to fix or remove
  it.
Then croft preview <asset>, and croft run <asset>.

The same page is in the CLI: `croft docs FILE_UNREADABLE`.

Source: https://croft.zabaca.com/docs/reference/errors/file-unreadable/