affaan-m/ECC · error · Error

LOCALAPPDATA is required on Windows.

Error message

LOCALAPPDATA is required on Windows.

What it means

On Windows, defaultInstallDirectory builds the install path from the LOCALAPPDATA environment variable. If that variable is unset or empty, the function cannot derive a safe per-user install location and throws. Non-Windows platforms use os.homedir() instead and never hit this path.

Solutions

1. Set LOCALAPPDATA in the environment (typically C:\\Users\\<user>\\AppData\\Local) before running the installer.
2. Pass an explicit install directory option so the default resolver is never invoked.
3. If using a custom environment object in tests, include LOCALAPPDATA: 'C:\\...\\AppData\\Local'.
4. Run from a normal user shell (cmd/PowerShell) that inherits the standard user environment.

Example fix

// before
await installDirectory({ os: 'windows' }); // env lacks LOCALAPPDATA
// after
process.env.LOCALAPPDATA = process.env.LOCALAPPDATA || 'C:\\Users\\me\\AppData\\Local';
await installDirectory({ os: 'windows' });

if (process.platform === 'win32' && !process.env.LOCALAPPDATA) throw new Error('Set LOCALAPPDATA before installing nasiko.');

const hasLocalAppData = (env) => typeof env.LOCALAPPDATA === 'string' && env.LOCALAPPDATA.length > 0;

try { dir = defaultInstallDirectory(normalized); } catch (err) { if (err.message.includes('LOCALAPPDATA is required')) dir = path.join(os.homedir(), 'AppData', 'Local', 'nasiko', 'bin'); else throw err; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling defaultInstallDirectory (directly or via installDirectory) with normalized.os === 'windows' while process.env (or the supplied environment object) has no LOCALAPPDATA key.

Common situations: Running the installer in a stripped-down Windows environment (service accounts, scheduled tasks, CI containers) where LOCALAPPDATA is not set; passing a custom minimal environment object; launching from a nonstandard shell that cleared the environment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

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AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/762e94aefe38fde7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at scripts/lib/nasiko-release.js:163

      if (response.statusCode !== 200) { response.resume(); reject(new Error(`Nasiko registry returned HTTP ${response.statusCode}.`)); return; }
      const chunks = [];
      let total = 0;
      response.on('data', chunk => {
        total += chunk.length;
        if (total > maxBytes) request.destroy(new Error('Nasiko registry response exceeded the size limit.'));
        else chunks.push(chunk);
      });
      response.on('end', () => resolve(Buffer.concat(chunks)));
      response.on('error', reject);
    });
    request.setTimeout(options.timeoutMs || 15000, () => request.destroy(new Error('Nasiko registry request timed out.')));
    request.on('error', reject);
  });
}

function defaultInstallDirectory(normalized, environment = process.env, homeDirectory = os.homedir()) {
  if (normalized.os === 'windows') {
    if (!environment.LOCALAPPDATA) throw new Error('LOCALAPPDATA is required on Windows.');
    return path.join(environment.LOCALAPPDATA, 'nasiko', 'bin');
  }
  return path.join(homeDirectory, '.local', 'bin');
}

function validateInstallDirectory(directory) {
  if (typeof directory !== 'string' || directory.includes('\0') || !path.isAbsolute(directory)) throw new Error('Nasiko install directory must be an absolute path.');
  if (/^(?:\\\\|\\\\\?\\|\\\\\.\\)/.test(directory)) throw new Error('Nasiko install directory must be on a local filesystem.');
  const resolved = path.resolve(directory);
  if (resolved === path.parse(resolved).root) throw new Error('Nasiko cannot install directly into a filesystem root.');
  let ancestor = resolved;
  while (!fs.existsSync(ancestor)) {
    const parent = path.dirname(ancestor);
    if (parent === ancestor) throw new Error('Nasiko install directory has no resolvable filesystem ancestor.');
    ancestor = parent;
  }
  const canonical = fs.realpathSync(ancestor);
  return path.join(canonical, path.relative(ancestor, resolved));

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