Yeachan-Heo/oh-my-codex · error · Error

agents-init target must be a directory: ${requestedTarget}

Error message

agents-init target must be a directory: ${requestedTarget}

What it means

The agents-init target exists but stat reports it is not a directory (a regular file, symlink to file, etc.). Scaffolding agent config requires a directory to create subdirectories and files into.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/agents-init.ts:300

  const dryRun = options.dryRun === true;
  const force = options.force === true;
  const verbose = options.verbose === true;
  const cwd = process.cwd();
  const requestedTarget = options.targetPath ?? ".";
  const targetDir = resolve(cwd, requestedTarget);
  const relativeTarget = relative(cwd, targetDir);

  if (relativeTarget.startsWith("..")) {
    throw new Error(
      `agents-init target must stay inside the current working directory: ${requestedTarget}`,
    );
  }

  const targetStat = await stat(targetDir).catch(() => null);
  if (!targetStat)
    throw new Error(`agents-init target not found: ${requestedTarget}`);
  if (!targetStat.isDirectory())
    throw new Error(
      `agents-init target must be a directory: ${requestedTarget}`,
    );

  const summary = createEmptySummary();
  const plannedDirs = await resolveTargetDirectories(targetDir);
  const backupRoot = join(
    cwd,
    ".omx",
    "backups",
    "agents-init",
    new Date().toISOString().replaceAll(":", "-"),
  );
  const activeSession = await readSessionState(cwd);
  const rootSessionGuardActive = Boolean(
    activeSession && !isSessionStale(activeSession),
  );

  console.log("oh-my-codex AGENTS bootstrap");

View on GitHub (pinned to 3ad79a8a6f)

Solutions

1. Point --target at a directory, not a file
2. If the path should be a directory, remove the conflicting file or rename it

Example fix

# before
omx agents-init --target AGENTS.md

# after
omx agents-init --target .

const st = statSync(targetDir, { throwIfNoEntry: false });
if (st && !st.isDirectory()) {
  console.error(`target is not a directory: ${targetDir}`);
  process.exit(2);
}

const isDirectory = (p: string): boolean => {
  const s = statSync(p, { throwIfNoEntry: false });
  return s?.isDirectory() ?? false;
};

When it happens

Trigger: Passing --target pointing at a file like README.md or a symlink that resolves to a file.

Common situations: Reusing a path that was a directory but is now a file, or pointing at a config filename instead of its parent directory.

Related errors

• agents-init target must stay inside the current working dire
• agents-init target not found: ${requestedTarget}
• Unknown agents-init option: ${arg}\n${AGENTS_INIT_USAGE}
• agents-init accepts at most one path argument.\n${AGENTS_INI
• Unknown adapt argument: ${arg}

AI-assisted analysis of Yeachan-Heo/oh-my-codex@3ad79a8a6f (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cbcdc6c32781359f. Report an issue: GitHub.