GNU bug report logs - #81242
31.0.90; "List contains a loop" error when trying to run package-upgrade

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Package: emacs; Reported by: Lucas Christian <lucas@HIDDEN>; dated Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:59:01 UTC; Maintainer for emacs is bug-gnu-emacs@HIDDEN.

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From: Lucas Christian <lucas@HIDDEN>
To: bug-gnu-emacs@HIDDEN
Subject: 31.0.90; "List contains a loop" error when trying to run
 package-upgrade
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If I try to run `package-upgrade' in my setup, the command typically works =
only once. After I either upgrade a package or press C-g, trying to run `pa=
ckage-upgrade' again produces the following error:

List contains a loop: ((ibuffer-projectile #s(package-desc ibuffer-projecti=
le (0 4) "Group ibuffer's list by projectile root." ((projectile (0 11 0)) =
(emacs (25 1)) (seq (2))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/ibuffer-proje=
ctile-0.4" ((:maintainers ("Steve Purcell" . "steve@HIDDEN")) (:auth=
ors ("Steve Purcell" . "steve@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "convenience") (:=
revdesc . "710ecac15782") (:commit . "710ecac1578273bf31debe52870f5844472e3=
428") (:url . "https://github.com/purcell/ibuffer-projectile")) nil)) (hydr=
a #s(package-desc hydra (0 15 0) "Make bindings that stick around." ((cl-li=
b (0 5)) (lv (0))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/hydra-0.15.0" ((:mai=
ntainers ("Oleh Krehel" . "ohwoeowho@HIDDEN")) (:authors ("Oleh Krehel" =
. "ohwoeowho@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "bindings") (:revdesc . "f27fce1b2f0a"=
) (:commit . "f27fce1b2f0a9162e159557bdeb2c0c94defb4d2") (:url . "https://g=
ithub.com/abo-abo/hydra")) nil)) (htmlize #s(package-desc htmlize (1 59) "C=
onvert buffer text and decorations to HTML." ((emacs (26 1))) nil nil "/Use=
rs/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/htmlize-1.59" ((:maintainers ("Hrvoje Niksic" . "hni=
ksic@HIDDEN")) (:authors ("Hrvoje Niksic" . "hniksic@HIDDEN")) (:keyw=
ords "hypermedia" "extensions") (:revdesc . "release/1.59-0-ga24ed5a939a3")=
 (:commit . "a24ed5a939a32c625b034b0b6d7f46340c100394") (:url . "https://gi=
thub.com/emacsorphanage/htmlize")) nil)) (highlight-indent-guides #s(packag=
e-desc highlight-indent-guides (20260202 1243) "Minor mode to highlight ind=
entation." ((emacs (26 1))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/highlight-i=
ndent-guides-20260202.1243" ((:maintainers ("Jen-Chieh Shen" . "jcs090218@g=
mail.com")) (:authors ("DarthFennec" . "darthfennec@HIDDEN")) (:keyw=
ords "convenience") (:revdesc . "802fb2eaf67e") (:commit . "802fb2eaf67ead7=
30d7e3483b9a1e9639705f267") (:url . "https://github.com/DarthFennec/highlig=
ht-indent-guides")) nil)) (groovy-mode #s(package-desc groovy-mode (2 1) "M=
ajor mode for Groovy source files." ((s (1 12 0)) (emacs (24 3)) (dash (2 1=
3 0))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/groovy-mode-2.1" ((:maintainers =
("Russel Winder" . "russel@HIDDEN")) (:authors ("Russel Winder" . "r=
ussel@HIDDEN") ("Jim Morris" . "morris@HIDDEN") ("Wilfred Hughe=
s" . "me@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "languages") (:revdesc . "99eaf70720e4=
") (:commit . "99eaf70720e4a6337fbd5acb68ae45cc1779bdc4") (:url . "https://=
github.com/Groovy-Emacs-Modes/groovy-emacs-modes")) nil)) (go-mode #s(packa=
ge-desc go-mode (1 6 0) "Major mode for the Go programming language." ((ema=
cs (26 1))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/go-mode-1.6.0" ((:keywords =
"languages" "go") (:revdesc . "v1.6.0-0-g3273fcece5d9") (:commit . "3273fce=
ce5d9ab7edd4f15b2d6bce61f4e5a0666") (:url . "https://github.com/dominikh/go=
-mode.el")) nil)) (ghub #s(package-desc ghub (5 0 4) "Client libraries for =
Git forge APIs." ((emacs (29 1)) (compat (30 1)) (cond-let (0 2)) (llama (1=
 0)) (treepy (0 1 2))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/ghub-5.0.4" ((:m=
aintainers ("Jonas Bernoulli" . "emacs.ghub@HIDDEN")) (:author=
s ("Jonas Bernoulli" . "emacs.ghub@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "tools=
") (:revdesc . "v5.0.4-0-gc22858596c1f") (:commit . "c22858596c1f5a1f5b439e=
475e7ba0e6a2e1718b") (:url . "https://github.com/magit/ghub")) nil)) (ghost=
el #s(package-desc ghostel (0 34 0) "Terminal emulator powered by libghostt=
y." ((emacs (28 1)) (compat (30 1 0 1))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elp=
a/ghostel-0.34.0" ((:maintainers ("Daniel Kraus" . "daniel@HIDDEN")) (:au=
thors ("Daniel Kraus" . "daniel@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "terminals") (:revde=
sc . "f7800f6430b6") (:commit . "f7800f6430b6ab85dbfc2db2129625e8a28ac17e")=
 (:url . "https://github.com/dakra/ghostel")) nil)) (ggtags #s(package-desc=
 ggtags (0 8 13) "Emacs frontend to GNU Global source code tagging system."=
 ((emacs (24)) (cl-lib (0 5))) nil nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/ggtags-0=
.8.13" ((:maintainers ("Leo Liu" . "sdl.web@HIDDEN")) (:authors ("Leo Li=
u" . "sdl.web@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "tools" "convenience") (:revdesc . "1=
7a121af1b37") (:commit . "17a121af1b375a6a5c5acec52f2ffd2b9715d244") (:url =
. "https://github.com/leoliu/ggtags")) nil)) (frame-local #s(package-desc f=
rame-local (20180330 940) "Variables local to a frame." ((emacs (25 1))) ni=
l nil "/Users/lucas/.emacs.d/elpa/frame-local-20180330.940" ((:maintainers =
("Sebastien Chapuis" . "sebastien@HIDDEN")) (:authors ("Sebastien Chapuis=
" . "sebastien@HIDDEN")) (:keywords "frames" "tools" "local" "lisp") (:re=
vdesc . "51c088960262") (:commit . "51c0889602626e2dcc6f1c1a812b058bc96df03=
c") (:url . "https://github.com/sebastiencs/frame-local")) nil)) ...)


Stack trace is as follows:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (circular-list ((ibuffer-projectile ...) (hyd=
ra ...) (htmlize ...) (highlight-indent-guides ...) (groovy-mode ...) (go-m=
ode ...) (ghub ...) (ghostel ...) (ggtags ...) (frame-local ...) (forge ...=
) (flyspell-correct-ivy ...) (flyspell-correct ...) (flycheck ...) (flx ...=
) (exec-path-from-shell ...) (emacsql ...) (eglot-java ...) (ebdb ...) (eat=
 ...) ...))
  nconc((... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...) (... =
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...))
  (seq-filter #'(lambda (elt) (let ((available (package-get-descriptor (car=
 elt) 'archive))) (and available (or (and include-builtins (not ...)) (vers=
ion-list-< (let* ... ...) (progn ... ...))) (not (package-vc-p (car ...))))=
)) (nconc (and include-builtins (package--builtin-alist)) (package--alist)))
  (mapcar #'car (seq-filter #'(lambda (elt) (let ((available (package-get-d=
escriptor ... ...))) (and available (or (and include-builtins ...) (version=
-list-< ... ...)) (not (package-vc-p ...))))) (nconc (and include-builtins =
(package--builtin-alist)) (package--alist))))
  package--upgradeable-packages(t)
  (completing-read "Upgrade package: " (package--upgradeable-packages t) ni=
l t)
  (intern (completing-read "Upgrade package: " (package--upgradeable-packag=
es t) nil t))
  (list (intern (completing-read "Upgrade package: " (package--upgradeable-=
packages t) nil t)))
  command-execute(package-upgrade record)
  execute-extended-command(nil "package-upgrade" "package-up")
  funcall-interactively(execute-extended-command nil "package-upgrade" "pac=
kage-up")
  command-execute(execute-extended-command)


This issue has been present for the last few weeks that I have been running=
 various points along the Emacs 31 branch. I have quite a few packages inst=
alled, including a mix pinned to various repositories using the use-package=
 :pin keyword, as well as a small number installed using package-vc.

An identical configuration works fine in Emacs 30.2.

Reproduced using `emacs -Q` (obviously it was still discovering the same pa=
ckages in the elpa subdirectory of my emacs.d).


In GNU Emacs 31.0.90 (build 1, aarch64-apple-darwin25.5.0, NS
 appkit-2685.60 Version 26.5.1 (Build 25F80)) of 2026-06-14 built on
 LC-MBP-2021.local
Windowing system distributor 'Apple', version 10.3.2685
System Description:  macOS 26.5.1

Configured using:
 'configure --disable-dependency-tracking --disable-silent-rules
 --enable-locallisppath=3D/opt/homebrew/share/emacs/site-lisp
 --infodir=3D/opt/homebrew/Cellar/emacs-plus@31/31.0.90/share/info/emacs
 --prefix=3D/opt/homebrew/Cellar/emacs-plus@31/31.0.90
 --with-native-compilation=3Daot --with-xml2 --with-gnutls
 --without-compress-install 'CFLAGS=3D-DFD_SETSIZE=3D10000
 -DDARWIN_UNLIMITED_SELECT -I/opt/homebrew/opt/sqlite/include
 -I/opt/homebrew/opt/gcc/include -I/opt/homebrew/opt/libgccjit/include'
 --without-dbus --without-imagemagick --with-modules --with-rsvg
 --with-webp --with-xwidgets --with-ns --disable-ns-self-contained
 'LDFLAGS=3D-L/opt/homebrew/opt/sqlite/lib -L/opt/homebrew/lib/gcc/15
 -Wl,-rpath,/opt/homebrew/lib/gcc/15''

Configured features:
ACL GIF GLIB GMP GNUTLS JPEG LCMS2 LIBXML2 MODULES NATIVE_COMP NOTIFY
KQUEUE NS PDUMPER PNG RSVG SQLITE3 THREADS TIFF TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS
TREE_SITTER WEBP XIM XWIDGETS ZLIB

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: en_US.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Lisp Interaction

Minor modes in effect:
  tooltip-mode: t
  global-eldoc-mode: t
  eldoc-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  minibuffer-nonselected-mode: t
  minibuffer-regexp-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  indent-tabs-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug lisp-mnt message yank-media puny dired
dired-loaddefs rfc822 mml mml-sec epa derived epg rfc6068 epg-config
gnus-util text-property-search mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mailabbrev
gmm-utils mailheader sendmail mail-parse rfc2231 rfc2047 rfc2045
ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils finder-inf package browse-url
xdg url url-proxy url-privacy url-expand url-methods url-history
url-cookie generate-lisp-file url-domsuf url-util mailcap url-handlers
url-parse auth-source cl-seq eieio eieio-core cl-macs gv icons
password-cache json map url-vars package-activate comp-run bytecomp
byte-compile comp-common rx time-date subr-x cl-loaddefs cl-lib rmc
iso-transl tooltip cconv eldoc paren electric uniquify ediff-hook
vc-hooks lisp-float-type elisp-mode mwheel term/ns-win ns-win
ucs-normalize mule-util term/common-win tool-bar dnd fontset image
regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment text-mode lisp-mode
prog-mode register page tab-bar menu-bar rfn-eshadow isearch easymenu
timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax font-core
term/tty-colors frame minibuffer nadvice seq simple cl-generic
indonesian philippine cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese
tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek
romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
composite emoji-zwj charscript charprop case-table epa-hook
jka-cmpr-hook help abbrev obarray oclosure cl-preloaded button loaddefs
theme-loaddefs faces cus-face macroexp files window text-properties
overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget keymap
hashtable-print-readable backquote threads xwidget-internal kqueue cocoa
ns lcms2 multi-tty make-network-process tty-child-frames native-compile
emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 107288 9481) (symbols 48 8997 0) (strings 32 32116 1953)
 (string-bytes 1 995073) (vectors 16 15833)
 (vector-slots 8 206261 13645) (floats 8 30 6) (intervals 56 353 0)
 (buffers 1064 12))

--=20
Lucas Christian
lucas@HIDDEN




Acknowledgement sent to Lucas Christian <lucas@HIDDEN>:
New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to bug-gnu-emacs@HIDDEN. Full text available.
Report forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs@HIDDEN:
bug#81242; Package emacs. Full text available.
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