golangci/golangci-lint · error

can't eval symlinks on wd %s: %w

Error message

can't eval symlinks on wd %s: %w

What it means

Error from fsutils.Getwd: the cached working directory was obtained via os.Getwd but EvalSymlinks on it failed (e.g. the working directory path contains a broken symlink or was deleted). The error is cached, so all later Getwd calls in the process return the same failure.

Source

Thrown at pkg/fsutils/fsutils.go:39

func UseWdCache(use bool) {
	useCache = use
}

func Getwd() (string, error) {
	if !useCache { // for tests
		return os.Getwd()
	}

	getWdOnce.Do(func() {
		cachedWd, cachedWdError = os.Getwd()
		if cachedWdError != nil {
			return
		}

		evaluatedWd, err := EvalSymlinks(cachedWd)
		if err != nil {
			cachedWd, cachedWdError = "", fmt.Errorf("can't eval symlinks on wd %s: %w", cachedWd, err)
			return
		}

		cachedWd = evaluatedWd
	})

	return cachedWd, cachedWdError
}

var evalSymlinkCache sync.Map

type evalSymlinkRes struct {
	path string
	err  error
}

func EvalSymlinks(path string) (string, error) {
	r, ok := evalSymlinkCache.Load(path)

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

1. Verify the current working directory exists and its symlinks resolve
2. Recreate removed/renamed directories the shell still points at
3. cd to a valid directory before running golangci-lint

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/fsutils/fsutils.go:39 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9e0d471c8967bdd. Report an issue: GitHub.