This article is for developers using Cloudflare Wrangler or Astro with Cloudflare adapter on Windows who encounter the write EOF error.
The Problem
After reinstalling Windows, I ran into an EOF error while trying to start my project with Cloudflare Wrangler.
The Wrong Solution
After struggling to fix the issue on my own, I found a popular GitHub comment suggesting to run install_tools.bat from Node.js. This did fix the EOF error, but it installed a lot of unnecessary software, including Python, Visual Studio components, and various files scattered across the system.
To figure out what install_tools.bat was actually installing, I investigated its components and decided to try a more minimal approach. Among all the Microsoft Visual Studio components, Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools seemed like the most logical solution to the problem, so I installed it directly using winget:
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools --override "--wait --quiet --add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools"
This also resolved the EOF error, but once again it installed a lot of unnecessary components, including Visual Studio Core, VS Core Editor Fonts, and parts of the Windows SDK.
The Actual Cause
While cleaning up the system, I noticed the installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable (x64 and x86) packages. I decided to test removing everything else except these packages, but the EOF error still didn’t appear.
When I uninstalled the Redistributables, the error returned immediately. Reinstalling them fixed the issue again.
I also confirmed this on a fresh Windows VM: installing only the VC++ Redistributable was enough to resolve the EOF error, without any Visual Studio Build Tools, SDKs, or Python.
Why This Works
Wrangler relies on native Node.js modules that require the Visual C++ runtime on Windows.
The cryptic "write EOF" error appears because the failure happens at a low level during process communication, resulting in a generic stream error rather than a clear "missing dependency" message.
Installing the Visual C++ Redistributable provides the required runtime and allows Wrangler to start normally.
Conclusion
To fix the "write EOF" error in Cloudflare Wrangler on Windows, you only need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable (x64 and x86).
The solutions offered online, including running install_tools.bat, are redundant and only clutter the system.
This minimal approach solves the problem cleanly and keeps your environment lean.
You can find a concise summary of the problem and the steps I took to fix it in my GitHub gist.
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