What causes "Directory does not exist: $temporaryDirectory" in PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet?

Create the directory before setting it: if (!is_dir($dir)) { mkdir($dir, 0775, true); }

PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet · error · PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Exception

Directory does not exist: $temporaryDirectory

Error message

Directory does not exist: $temporaryDirectory

What it means

The PDF writers (mPDF/Dompdf/TCPDF wrappers) render HTML to an intermediate file in a temporary directory before producing the PDF. setTempDir() validates its argument and refuses anything that is not an existing directory, throwing this WriterException immediately rather than failing later during save().

Solutions

Create the directory before setting it: if (!is_dir($dir)) { mkdir($dir, 0775, true); }
Prefer sys_get_temp_dir() (always exists) over a custom path unless you must isolate storage.
Resolve relative paths to absolute with realpath()/base_path() so cwd differences cannot break the check.
Provision the directory in your deployment (Dockerfile RUN mkdir, ansible task) if it is fixed configuration.

Example fix

// before
$writer = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Pdf\Mpdf($spreadsheet);
$writer->setTempDir('/var/tmp/pdf-export'); // throws if missing

// after
$dir = '/var/tmp/pdf-export';
if (!is_dir($dir)) {
    mkdir($dir, 0775, true);
}
$writer->setTempDir($dir);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

$tempDir = rtrim($config['pdf_temp_dir'], '/');
if (!is_dir($tempDir)) {
    if (!mkdir($tempDir, 0775, true) && !is_dir($tempDir)) {
        throw new RuntimeException("Cannot create PDF temp dir: $tempDir");
    }
}
if (!is_writable($tempDir)) {
    throw new RuntimeException("PDF temp dir not writable: $tempDir");
}
$writer->setTempDir($tempDir);

Prevention

Default to sys_get_temp_dir() unless isolation is required.
Resolve configured paths to absolute (realpath) before calling setTempDir to avoid cwd-dependent failures.
Provision fixed temp directories in deployment artifacts (Dockerfile, IaC) alongside the config that names them.
Add a boot-time health check that validates all configured directories exist and are writable.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling $writer->setTempDir($path) where $path does not exist: typo, a subdirectory never created, a relative path resolved from a different working directory (CLI vs web SAPI), or a path provisioned only on another environment.

Common situations: Config-driven temp directories (e.g. sys_get_temp_dir() . '/pdf') that work in dev but are never created in the deployed container; switching from absolute to relative paths; tmpwatch/systemd-tmpfiles cleaning the directory between deploys.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of PHPOffice/PhpSpreadsheet@65b080eef4 (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b28926680445c149. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Pdf.php:201

    /**
     * Get temporary storage directory.
     */
    public function getTempDir(): string
    {
        return $this->tempDir;
    }

    /**
     * Set temporary storage directory.
     *
     * @param string $temporaryDirectory Temporary storage directory
     */
    public function setTempDir(string $temporaryDirectory): self
    {
        if (is_dir($temporaryDirectory)) {
            $this->tempDir = $temporaryDirectory;
        } else {
            throw new WriterException("Directory does not exist: $temporaryDirectory");
        }

        return $this;
    }

    /**
     * Save Spreadsheet to PDF file, pre-save.
     *
     * @param resource|string $filename Name of the file to save as
     *
     * @return resource
     */
    protected function prepareForSave($filename)
    {
        //  Open file
        $this->openFileHandle($filename);

        return $this->fileHandle;

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