chenhg5/cc-connect · error

cannot create config directory: %w

Error message

cannot create config directory: %w

What it means

Windows build of AcquireInstanceLock: os.MkdirAll on the config directory failed, producing "cannot create config directory: %w" before any Win32 lock APIs are invoked. Causes are the usual Windows filesystem errors: access denied, path occupied by a file, invalid path characters, or read-only media.

Source

Thrown at cmd/cc-connect/instance_lock_windows.go:31

const killWaitTimeout = 5 * time.Second
const killWaitInterval = 25 * time.Millisecond

const processQueryLimitedInformation = 0x1000

type InstanceLock struct {
	handle   syscall.Handle
	path     string
	acquired bool
}

func AcquireInstanceLock(configPath string) (*InstanceLock, error) {
	configDir := filepath.Dir(configPath)
	configBase := filepath.Base(configPath)
	lockName := fmt.Sprintf(".%s.lock", configBase)
	lockPath := filepath.Join(configDir, lockName)

	if err := os.MkdirAll(configDir, 0755); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot create config directory: %w", err)
	}

	pathPtr, err := syscall.UTF16PtrFromString(lockPath)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot convert lock path: %w", err)
	}

	handle, createErr := syscall.CreateFile(
		pathPtr,
		syscall.GENERIC_READ|syscall.GENERIC_WRITE,
		syscall.FILE_SHARE_READ,
		nil,
		syscall.OPEN_ALWAYS,
		syscall.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
		0,
	)

	if createErr != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4000b2338a)

Solutions

1. Move the config to a user-writable location (e.g. %APPDATA%\cc-connect\config.toml).
2. Check ACLs on the parent directory (icacls <dir>) and grant the running user modify rights.
3. Enable long-path support or shorten the path if MAX_PATH is exceeded.
4. Check drive space and read-only attribute of the volume.

dir := filepath.Dir(configPath)
if fi, err := os.Stat(dir); err == nil && !fi.IsDir() {
    return fmt.Errorf("%s is a file", dir)
}
if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("config dir not creatable: %w", err)
}

lock, err := AcquireInstanceLock(configPath)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "cannot create config directory") {
    slog.Error("Windows: check ACLs/path length/drive state", "dir", dir, "err", err)
    os.Exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling AcquireInstanceLock(configPath) on Windows where filepath.Dir(configPath) cannot be created: ACL denies write, a file exists at the directory path, path length limits (MAX_PATH) exceeded, or the drive is read-only/full.

Common situations: Config placed under C:\Program Files (needs admin), path > 260 characters, running as a service account without a writable profile directory, or OneDrive-synced folder locked.

Understand the failure class

Background: mkdir permission denied (EACCES): failed to create directory errors explained — this error's family across 32 libraries.

Related errors

• cannot create config directory: %w
• create data dir: %w
• codex: mkdir codex home: %w
• cannot open lock file: %w
• cannot read sessions directory %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of chenhg5/cc-connect@4000b2338a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5895d17bd5f960e6. Report an issue: GitHub.