What causes "get wd: %w" in golangci/golangci-lint?

Re-create or cd back into a valid directory before running golangci-lint

get wd: %w

Error message

get wd: %w

What it means

GetBasePath returns this wrapped error when the relative path mode is RelativePathModeWd and Getwd() fails to determine the current working directory. The OS-level cause is preserved via %w. This is rare and usually means the process's working directory no longer exists or is inaccessible.

Source

Thrown at pkg/fsutils/basepath.go:59

		goMod, err := goenv.GetOne(ctx, goenv.GOMOD)
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("get go.mod path: %w", err)
		}

		return filepath.Dir(goMod), nil

	case RelativePathModeGitRoot:
		root, err := gitRoot(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("get git root: %w", err)
		}

		return root, nil

	case RelativePathModeWd:
		wd, err := Getwd()
		if err != nil {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("get wd: %w", err)
		}

		return wd, nil

	default:
		return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown relative path mode: %s", mode)
	}
}

func gitRoot(ctx context.Context) (string, error) {
	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel")
	out, err := cmd.Output()
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

	return string(bytes.TrimSpace(out)), nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to ed7a235d2d)

Solutions

Re-create or cd back into a valid directory before running golangci-lint
Check permissions on the working directory path (read/execute bits)
Inspect the wrapped %w error for the exact OS cause (e.g. ENOENT, EACCES) and fix accordingly

Example fix

// shell before: run from a deleted dir
rm -rf /tmp/work && cd /tmp/work && golangci-lint run
// after
cd /existing/project && golangci-lint run

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if wd, err := os.Getwd(); err != nil {
  return fmt.Errorf("working directory unusable: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

basePath, err := fsutils.GetBasePath(ctx, mode)
if err != nil {
  if wd, wdErr := os.Getwd(); wdErr != nil {
    log.Fatalf("cwd unavailable: %v", wdErr) // re-enter a valid directory
  }
  return err
}

Prevention

Do not delete the workspace while the linter process runs
cd into an existing project directory before invoking the linter
Check directory permissions in containers
Avoid launching from temp dirs that get cleaned up

When it happens

Trigger: Calling golangci-lint (with run.relative-path-mode: wd, or default flows calling GetBasePath) after the current directory has been deleted, or when permission/OS errors prevent os.Getwd from resolving it.

Common situations: CI jobs that delete the workspace while the linter runs; launching the process from a removed temp dir; broken symlinked working directories; permission problems on containers.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of golangci/golangci-lint@ed7a235d2d (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0c4180a76e8f9fe4. Report an issue: GitHub.