fix: detect rclone version and conditionally use --create-empty-src-dirs flag

- Add get_rclone_version() function to parse rclone version from 'rclone version' output
- Modify project_bisync() to only include --create-empty-src-dirs for rclone v1.64+
- Handle version detection failures gracefully (omit flag when version unknown)
- Add comprehensive test coverage for version detection and conditional flag usage

Fixes #472

Co-authored-by: Paul Hernandez <phernandez@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: claude[bot] <41898282+claude[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/cloud/rclone_commands.py

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ This module provides simplified, project-scoped rclone operations:
 Replaces tenant-wide sync with project-scoped workflows.
 """
 
+import re
 import subprocess
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -43,6 +44,31 @@ def check_rclone_installed() -> None:
         )
 
 
+def get_rclone_version() -> tuple[int, int, int] | None:
+    """Get rclone version as (major, minor, patch) tuple.
+
+    Returns:
+        Version tuple (major, minor, patch) or None if version cannot be determined
+
+    Example:
+        >>> version = get_rclone_version()
+        >>> if version and version >= (1, 64, 0):
+        ...     # Use features from rclone v1.64+
+    """
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            ["rclone", "version"], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5
+        )
+        # Match version pattern like "v1.64.2" or "v1.60.1-DEV"
+        match = re.search(r"v(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)", result.stdout)
+        if match:
+            return int(match.group(1)), int(match.group(2)), int(match.group(3))
+    except Exception:
+        # If we can't determine version, return None (caller should handle gracefully)
+        pass
+    return None
+
+
 @dataclass
 class SyncProject:
     """Project configured for cloud sync.
@@ -218,17 +244,27 @@ def project_bisync(
         "bisync",
         str(local_path),
         remote_path,
-        "--create-empty-src-dirs",
-        "--resilient",
-        "--conflict-resolve=newer",
-        "--max-delete=25",
-        "--compare=modtime",  # Ignore size differences from line ending conversions
-        "--filter-from",
-        str(filter_path),
-        "--workdir",
-        str(state_path),
     ]
 
+    # Only include --create-empty-src-dirs if rclone version >= 1.64
+    # This flag was added in rclone v1.64 and causes errors in older versions
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+    if version and version >= (1, 64, 0):
+        cmd.append("--create-empty-src-dirs")
+
+    cmd.extend(
+        [
+            "--resilient",
+            "--conflict-resolve=newer",
+            "--max-delete=25",
+            "--compare=modtime",  # Ignore size differences from line ending conversions
+            "--filter-from",
+            str(filter_path),
+            "--workdir",
+            str(state_path),
+        ]
+    )
+
     if verbose:
         cmd.append("--verbose")
     else:

tests/test_rclone_commands.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands import (
     check_rclone_installed,
     get_project_bisync_state,
     get_project_remote,
+    get_rclone_version,
     project_bisync,
     project_check,
     project_ls,
@@ -479,3 +480,138 @@ def test_project_ls_checks_rclone_installed(mock_is_installed):
 
     assert "rclone is not installed" in str(exc_info.value)
     mock_is_installed.assert_called_once()
+
+
+# Tests for rclone version detection
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+def test_get_rclone_version_success(mock_run):
+    """Test successful rclone version detection."""
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(
+        returncode=0, stdout="rclone v1.64.2\n- os/version: darwin 14.1.1 (64 bit)\n"
+    )
+
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+
+    assert version == (1, 64, 2)
+    mock_run.assert_called_once()
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+def test_get_rclone_version_dev_build(mock_run):
+    """Test rclone version detection with DEV suffix."""
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(
+        returncode=0, stdout="rclone v1.60.1-DEV\n- os/version: linux\n"
+    )
+
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+
+    assert version == (1, 60, 1)
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+def test_get_rclone_version_old_version(mock_run):
+    """Test rclone version detection with older version."""
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(
+        returncode=0, stdout="rclone v1.55.0\n- os/version: linux\n"
+    )
+
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+
+    assert version == (1, 55, 0)
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+def test_get_rclone_version_parse_failure(mock_run):
+    """Test rclone version detection when version string cannot be parsed."""
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(returncode=0, stdout="unknown output\n")
+
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+
+    assert version is None
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+def test_get_rclone_version_subprocess_error(mock_run):
+    """Test rclone version detection when subprocess fails."""
+    mock_run.side_effect = Exception("Command failed")
+
+    version = get_rclone_version()
+
+    assert version is None
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.is_rclone_installed")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.bisync_initialized")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.get_rclone_version")
+def test_project_bisync_includes_flag_for_new_version(
+    mock_version, mock_bisync_init, mock_run, mock_is_installed
+):
+    """Test that --create-empty-src-dirs is included for rclone v1.64+."""
+    mock_is_installed.return_value = True
+    mock_bisync_init.return_value = True
+    mock_version.return_value = (1, 64, 2)  # Version supports flag
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(returncode=0)
+
+    project = SyncProject(
+        name="research",
+        path="app/data/research",
+        local_sync_path="/tmp/research",
+    )
+
+    project_bisync(project, "my-bucket")
+
+    cmd = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
+    assert "--create-empty-src-dirs" in cmd
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.is_rclone_installed")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.bisync_initialized")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.get_rclone_version")
+def test_project_bisync_excludes_flag_for_old_version(
+    mock_version, mock_bisync_init, mock_run, mock_is_installed
+):
+    """Test that --create-empty-src-dirs is excluded for rclone < v1.64."""
+    mock_is_installed.return_value = True
+    mock_bisync_init.return_value = True
+    mock_version.return_value = (1, 60, 1)  # Old version doesn't support flag
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(returncode=0)
+
+    project = SyncProject(
+        name="research",
+        path="app/data/research",
+        local_sync_path="/tmp/research",
+    )
+
+    project_bisync(project, "my-bucket")
+
+    cmd = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
+    assert "--create-empty-src-dirs" not in cmd
+
+
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.is_rclone_installed")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.subprocess.run")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.bisync_initialized")
+@patch("basic_memory.cli.commands.cloud.rclone_commands.get_rclone_version")
+def test_project_bisync_excludes_flag_when_version_unknown(
+    mock_version, mock_bisync_init, mock_run, mock_is_installed
+):
+    """Test that --create-empty-src-dirs is excluded when version cannot be determined."""
+    mock_is_installed.return_value = True
+    mock_bisync_init.return_value = True
+    mock_version.return_value = None  # Version detection failed
+    mock_run.return_value = MagicMock(returncode=0)
+
+    project = SyncProject(
+        name="research",
+        path="app/data/research",
+        local_sync_path="/tmp/research",
+    )
+
+    project_bisync(project, "my-bucket")
+
+    cmd = mock_run.call_args[0][0]
+    assert "--create-empty-src-dirs" not in cmd