What causes "resolve repository path %q: %w" in alibaba/open-code-review?

Verify RepoDir points to an existing directory (ls ) and correct the value.

resolve repository path %q: %w

Error message

resolve repository path %q: %w

What it means

Error from FileReader.resolveWorkspacePath when pathutil.CanonicalPath fails on fr.RepoDir — the repository root itself cannot be canonicalized (e.g. it does not exist or a path component is not resolvable). No file-specific validation happens; this is a configuration-level failure of the FileReader's RepoDir setting.

Source

Thrown at internal/tool/filereader.go:97

	}
}

func (fr *FileReader) readFromDisk(path string) (string, error) {
	fullPath, err := fr.resolveWorkspacePath(path)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}
	content, err := os.ReadFile(fullPath)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("read file %q: %w", path, err)
	}
	return string(content), nil
}

func (fr *FileReader) resolveWorkspacePath(path string) (string, error) {
	repoRoot, err := pathutil.CanonicalPath(fr.RepoDir)
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve repository path %q: %w", fr.RepoDir, err)
	}

	fullPath := filepath.Join(repoRoot, path)
	if !pathutil.WithinBase(repoRoot, fullPath) {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("file path %q is outside repository", path)
	}

	resolvedPath, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(fullPath)
	if err != nil {
		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
			return fullPath, nil
		}
		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolve file %q: %w", path, err)
	}
	if !pathutil.WithinBase(repoRoot, resolvedPath) {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("file path %q is outside repository", path)
	}
	return resolvedPath, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 5cf97d0d15)

Solutions

Verify RepoDir points to an existing directory (ls <RepoDir>) and correct the value.
Run the tool from inside the repository if RepoDir is derived from the working directory.
Recreate the missing directory or fix the broken symlink that RepoDir points through.

Example fix

// before
fr := &tool.FileReader{RepoDir: "/tmp/stale-worktree"}
// after
fr := &tool.FileReader{RepoDir: "/home/dev/project"} // existing repo root

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

info, err := os.Stat(repoDir)
if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("repo dir %q: %w", repoDir, err) }
if !info.IsDir() { return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a directory", repoDir) }
if _, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(repoDir); err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("cannot resolve %q: %w", repoDir, err) }

Type guard

func validRepoDir(dir string) bool { info, err := os.Stat(dir); return err == nil && info.IsDir() }

Try / catch

content, err := fr.Read(ctx, rel)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "resolve repository path") {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("FileReader misconfigured: set RepoDir to an existing directory: %w", err)
}

Prevention

Set RepoDir from an absolute, verified path (filepath.Abs + os.Stat) at startup.
Prefer resolving RepoDir via git rev-parse --show-toplevel rather than cwd assumptions.
Fail fast with a clear message if RepoDir does not exist, instead of letting reads fail later.

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing FileReader with a RepoDir that is a non-existent path, a broken symlink, or otherwise uncanonicalizable, then calling Read/ReadLines in workspace mode so readFromDisk/readLinesFromDisk invoke resolveWorkspacePath.

Common situations: Running the CLI outside a git repository or with a bad --repo flag; RepoDir pointing to a deleted temp directory; renamed/moved project root; wrong working directory when RepoDir defaults to cwd.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of alibaba/open-code-review@5cf97d0d15 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fc18091b976716ee. Report an issue: GitHub.