alibaba/open-code-review · error

resolve home dir

Error message

resolve home dir: %w

What it means

This error wraps os.UserHomeDir() failures that occur when the JSONL session writer opens its session file. The library stores review sessions under ~/.opencodereview/<sessions>/<encoded-repo>, so it must resolve the user's home directory first. If that resolution fails, no session file can be created and open() aborts with this wrapped error.

Solutions

1. Set the HOME environment variable to a writable directory (e.g. export HOME=/root or HOME=/tmp) before invoking the tool
2. Run the process as a user that exists in /etc/passwd with a valid home directory
3. If in Docker, add ENV HOME=/root to the image or pass -e HOME=... at runtime
4. Verify with `go env` or a quick `os.UserHomeDir()` test that home resolution succeeds in the target environment

Example fix

// before (failing shell)
cron: ocr review ...
// after
 HOME=/root ocr review ...  # or set HOME in the crontab/service unit

if os.Getenv("HOME") == "" {
    if _, err := os.UserHomeDir(); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("HOME must be set: %w", err)
    }
}

if err := runOCR(); err != nil {
    var pe *fs.PathError
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "resolve home dir") {
        log.Fatalf("Set HOME to a writable directory: %v", err)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: newJSONLWriter -> open() calls os.UserHomeDir() and it returns an error: $HOME is unset in the environment and no passwd entry exists for the current user (typical in cron jobs, Docker containers, or bare CI runners running as a non-login user).

Common situations: Running `ocr` inside a Docker container without HOME set; systemd services with a minimal Environment=; CI jobs executing as a uid with no home directory; Go cross-runtime environments where user.Current() cannot read /etc/passwd.

Related errors

• resolve home dir
• cannot determine home directory
• API key is required for provider
• background file is a directory, not a file
• chmod config

AI-assisted analysis of alibaba/open-code-review@5cf97d0d15 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/27782a96c2596c1a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/session/persist.go:106

	// Replace separators with -
	p = strings.ReplaceAll(p, "/", "-")
	p = strings.ReplaceAll(p, "\\", "-")

	// Replace colons (from Windows drive letters)
	vol = strings.ReplaceAll(vol, ":", "_")

	// Handle edge case where path was only separators or volume name
	result := vol + p
	if result == "" {
		return "empty"
	}
	return result
}

func (jw *jsonlWriter) open() error {
	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("resolve home dir: %w", err)
	}

	sessionDir := filepath.Join(home, ".opencodereview", sessionSubDir, encodeRepoPath(jw.repoDir))
	if err := os.MkdirAll(sessionDir, 0700); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("create session dir: %w", err)
	}

	filename := filepath.Join(sessionDir, jw.sessionID+".jsonl")
	f, err := os.OpenFile(filename, os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_TRUNC, 0600)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("open session file: %w", err)
	}

	jw.file = f
	jw.writer = bufio.NewWriter(f)
	return nil
}

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