JetBrains/intellij-community · error · ConfigurationException

Enter {0} file location

Error message

Enter {0} file location

What it means

Thrown by ProjectNameStep.validate() when the project file directory field is empty. The step needs a location to run ProjectWizardUtil.createDirectoryIfNotExists and to compute the .ipr or .idea path, so empty location aborts validation.

Source

Thrown at java/idea-ui/src/com/intellij/ide/util/projectWizard/ProjectNameStep.java:112

    myWizardContext.setProjectFileDirectory(getProjectFileDirectory());
  }

  @Override
  public Icon getIcon() {
    return myWizardContext.getStepIcon();
  }

  @Override
  public boolean validate() throws ConfigurationException {
    String name = myNamePathComponent.getNameValue();
    if (name.isEmpty()) {
      ApplicationNamesInfo info = ApplicationNamesInfo.getInstance();
      throw new ConfigurationException(JavaUiBundle.message("prompt.new.project.file.name", info.getFullProductName(), myWizardContext.getPresentationName()));
    }

    final String projectFileDirectory = getProjectFileDirectory();
    if (projectFileDirectory.isEmpty()) {
      throw new ConfigurationException(JavaUiBundle.message("prompt.enter.project.file.location", myWizardContext.getPresentationName()));
    }

    final boolean shouldPromptCreation = myNamePathComponent.isPathChangedByUser();
    String prefix = JavaUiBundle.message("directory.project.file.directory", myWizardContext.getPresentationName());
    if (!ProjectWizardUtil.createDirectoryIfNotExists(prefix, projectFileDirectory, shouldPromptCreation)) {
      return false;
    }

    boolean shouldContinue = true;

    final String path = myWizardContext.isCreatingNewProject() && myWizardContext.getProjectStorageFormat() == DIRECTORY_BASED
                        ? getProjectFileDirectory() + "/" + Project.DIRECTORY_STORE_FOLDER : getProjectFilePath();
    final File projectFile = new File(path);
    if (projectFile.exists()) {
      final String title = myWizardContext.isCreatingNewProject()
                           ? IdeCoreBundle.message("title.new.project")
                           : IdeCoreBundle.message("title.add.module");
      final String message = myWizardContext.isCreatingNewProject() && myWizardContext.getProjectStorageFormat() == DIRECTORY_BASED

View on GitHub (pinned to be881553f2)

Solutions

1. Fill in the project location field (absolute path) in the wizard step
2. Re-pick the parent directory via browse so the field is re-derived from the name
3. Programmatically, set context.setProjectFileDir(LocalFileSystem.getInstance().refreshAndFindFileByPath(baseDir)) equivalent before validate()

if (step.getProjectFileDirectory().isEmpty()) {
  wizardContext.setProjectFileDir(VfsUtilCore.pathToUrl(defaultBaseDir));
}
step.validate();

When it happens

Trigger: Calling validate() on ProjectNameStep while getProjectFileDirectory() returns the empty string — path component cleared or WizardContext has no project file directory set.

Common situations: User erased the location line in the new-project step; wizard reopened after an earlier failure leaving the path field blank; programmatic use without wizardContext.setProjectFileDir().

Related errors

• Enter {0} file location
• Enter module file location
• Enter a file name to create a new {0} {1}
• {0} location path should be absolute
• Enter a file name to create a new {0} {1}

AI-assisted analysis of JetBrains/intellij-community@be881553f2 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f17bc42806c6fa2d. Report an issue: GitHub.