can1357/oh-my-pi · error · Error

Unable to safely override process.cwd for Puppeteer import

Error message

Unable to safely override process.cwd for Puppeteer import

What it means

Before importing puppeteer-core, importPuppeteerWithSafeCwd temporarily replaces process.cwd with a function returning a safe directory (Puppeteer's cosmiconfig probes cwd during module init). If process.cwd has no own property descriptor whose value is a function — e.g. it was already replaced, deleted, or made non-configurable by other instrumentation — the override is deemed unsafe and this Error is thrown, and the failure is cached (puppeteerCwdFailed) so later imports rethrow it.

Source

Thrown at packages/coding-agent/src/tools/browser/launch.ts:88

}

const STEALTH_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE = "en-US,en";

const USER_AGENT_TARGET_TIMEOUT_MS = 5_000;
const USER_AGENT_TARGET_TYPES = new Set(["page", "webview", "background_page"]);
const PUPPETEER_SOURCE_URL_SUFFIX = "//# sourceURL=__puppeteer_evaluation_script__";

/**
 * Lazy-import puppeteer while hiding the user's cwd from cosmiconfig. The
 * import must not change the filesystem cwd: it is awaited and callers
 * continue running on the main thread while it is pending.
 */
let puppeteerCwdFailed = false;
let puppeteerCwdFailure: unknown;
async function importPuppeteerWithSafeCwd(safeDir: string): Promise<typeof Puppeteer> {
	const cwdDescriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "cwd");
	if (!cwdDescriptor || typeof cwdDescriptor.value !== "function") {
		throw new Error("Unable to safely override process.cwd for Puppeteer import");
	}

	try {
		Object.defineProperty(process, "cwd", { ...cwdDescriptor, value: () => safeDir });
	} catch (overrideFailure) {
		puppeteerCwdFailed = true;
		puppeteerCwdFailure = overrideFailure;
		throw overrideFailure;
	}
	let loaded: typeof Puppeteer | undefined;
	let importFailure: unknown;
	let importFailed = false;
	let restorationFailure: unknown;
	let restorationFailed = false;
	try {
		try {
			// Dynamic import is intentional: Puppeteer probes cwd during module initialization.
			loaded = (await import("puppeteer-core")).default;

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

Find and remove whatever redefines/deletes process.cwd before browser tooling runs (search for defineProperty(process, "cwd") / process.cwd = in the host code)
Ensure the original descriptor is restored after any intentional cwd override elsewhere
Restart the process to clear the cached puppeteerCwdFailed failure after fixing the cause
As a workaround, launch against an already-running browser (connected CDP kind) that skips the puppeteer import path if available

Example fix

// before: test stub without restoring
process.cwd = () => "/fake"; // or defineProperty with configurable:false
// after: patch and restore with a matching descriptor
const desc = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "cwd")!;
Object.defineProperty(process, "cwd", { ...desc, value: () => "/fake" });
// ...test...
Object.defineProperty(process, "cwd", desc);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const d = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "cwd");
if (!d || typeof d.value !== "function") {
  throw new Error("process.cwd is not safely patchable; remove global cwd monkey-patching before using the browser tool");
}

Type guard

function cwdIsPatchable(): boolean {
  const d = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(process, "cwd");
  return !!d && typeof d.value === "function";
}

Try / catch

try {
  await loadPuppeteer();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes("Unable to safely override process.cwd")) {
    // find the library that replaced/deleted process.cwd and remove/repair that patch, then restart
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Never stub/delete process.cwd process-wide (especially with configurable:false); scope cwd changes to chdir-free helpers
If you must patch cwd, restore the exact original descriptor in a finally block
Remember the failure is cached for the process lifetime — fix the cause and restart rather than retrying in-process
Run browser tooling before test frameworks apply global environment patches, or order patches so cwd is untouched

When it happens

Trigger: Another library/test framework monkey-patched or deleted process.cwd (Object.defineProperty(process,'cwd',{...}) or deletion) before the browser tool first imports puppeteer; bundlers/runtimes exposing a non-configurable cwd; a prior import attempt failed to restore cwd (restorationFailed sets puppeteerCwdFailed).

Common situations: Test harnesses that stub process.cwd globally; running under instrumentation that freezes globals; a previous failed puppeteer load poisoning the cached failure for the process lifetime.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4dcd9d38e03aa47e. Report an issue: GitHub.