MuntashirAkon/AppManager · error · IOException

Directory

Error message

Directory

What it means

If DocumentFile.createDirectory(lastSegment) returns null (the provider failed to create the directory), createDirectories() throws IOException("Directory<parentUri>/<lastSegment> could not be created."). Note the message has no space after "Directory" — a cosmetic bug. It signals the storage backend refused or failed the creation.

Source

Thrown at app/src/main/java/io/github/muntashirakon/io/PathImpl.java:453

        if (dirNames.length == 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Display name is empty");
        }
        for (String name : dirNames) {
            if (name.equals("..")) {
                throw new IOException("Could not create directories in the parent directory.");
            }
        }
        DocumentFile file = createArbitraryDirectories(documentFile, dirNames, dirNames.length - 1);
        // Special case for the last segment
        String lastSegment = dirNames[dirNames.length - 1];
        Path fsRoot = VirtualFileSystem.getFsRoot(Paths.appendPathSegment(file.getUri(), lastSegment));
        DocumentFile t = fsRoot != null ? fsRoot.documentFile : file.findFile(lastSegment);
        if (t != null) {
            throw new IOException(t.getUri() + " already exists.");
        }
        t = file.createDirectory(lastSegment);
        if (t == null) {
            throw new IOException("Directory" + file.getUri() + File.separator + lastSegment + " could not be created.");
        }
        return new PathImpl(context, t);
    }

    @Nullable
    public Path getParent() {
        DocumentFile file = getRealDocumentFile(documentFile).getParentFile();
        return file == null ? null : new PathImpl(context, file);
    }

    public boolean hasFile(@NonNull String displayName) {
        return findFileInternal(documentFile, displayName) != null;
    }

    @NonNull
    public Path findFile(@NonNull String displayName) throws FileNotFoundException {
        DocumentFile nextPath = findFileInternal(documentFile, displayName);
        if (nextPath == null) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 0152f468fc)

Solutions

1. Verify the name contains only provider-safe characters (no slashes, control chars, or reserved names).
2. Check available storage and that the volume is writable/mounted before creating.
3. Re-acquire SAF permissions (ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE) and confirm canWrite() on the parent.
4. Retry against a different parent or use MediaStore/app-specific storage if SAF keeps failing.

Example fix

// before
path.createDirectories(dirName); // IOException: Directory...could not be created.
// after
DocumentFile parent = getRealDocumentFile(path);
if (parent != null && parent.canWrite()) {
    path.createDirectories(dirName);
}

DocumentFile parent = getRealDocumentFile(path);
boolean writable = parent != null && parent.canWrite() && parent.isDirectory();

try {
    return path.createDirectories(name);
} catch (IOException e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("could not be created")) {
        throw new IOException("Storage unwritable or name rejected: " + name, e);
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: file.createDirectory() returns null because the DocumentsProvider rejected the create: invalid characters in the name, name too long, read-only/external storage, or provider error.

Common situations: Writing to an SD card that is read-only or unmounted; directory names with characters the provider disallows; exhausted storage; SAF grants revoked so the tree is no longer writable.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to write file", "Could not save figure", "Error saving remote file" — file write failed: causes and fixes across languages and libraries — this error's family across 38 libraries.

Related errors

• Current file is not a directory.
• Could not create directory named ${displayName}
• Could not create
• Couldn't find any writable Obb dir
• Could not delete the selected backups

AI-assisted analysis of MuntashirAkon/AppManager@0152f468fc (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f1044fe88a512ccb. Report an issue: GitHub.