Failed to get absolute path of the configuration directory:

Error message

Failed to get absolute path of the configuration directory: %v

What it means

At the start of TestSuiteRunner.Test, filepath.Abs(runner.ConfigDirectory) resolves the configuration directory to an absolute path. This wraps a failure of that call.

Source

Thrown at internal/cloud/test.go:129

func (runner *TestSuiteRunner) Stop() {
	runner.Stopped = true
}

func (runner *TestSuiteRunner) IsStopped() bool {
	return runner.Stopped
}

func (runner *TestSuiteRunner) Cancel() {
	runner.Cancelled = true
}

func (runner *TestSuiteRunner) Test(_ bool) (moduletest.Status, tfdiags.Diagnostics) {
	var diags tfdiags.Diagnostics

	configDirectory, err := filepath.Abs(runner.ConfigDirectory)
	if err != nil {
		diags = diags.Append(fmt.Errorf("Failed to get absolute path of the configuration directory: %v", err))
		return moduletest.Error, diags
	}

	variables, variableDiags := ParseCloudRunTestVariables(runner.GlobalVariables)
	diags = diags.Append(variableDiags)
	if variableDiags.HasErrors() {
		// Stop early if we couldn't parse the global variables.
		return moduletest.Error, diags
	}

	addr, err := tfaddr.ParseModuleSource(runner.Source)
	if err != nil {
		if parserError, ok := err.(*tfaddr.ParserError); ok {
			diags = diags.Append(tfdiags.AttributeValue(
				tfdiags.Error,
				parserError.Summary,
				parserError.Detail,
				cty.Path{cty.GetAttrStep{Name: "source"}}))

View on GitHub (pinned to c9def3e214)

Solutions

Re-run from a valid, existing directory.
Ensure the shell's current working directory still exists.
Pass an absolute configuration directory path to the runner.

Example fix

// before: runner.ConfigDirectory = "." while cwd was deleted -> abs path fails
// after: pass an absolute, existing path
runner.ConfigDirectory = "/home/user/my-module"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate the config directory exists and is resolvable before running tests
abs, err := filepath.Abs(runner.ConfigDirectory)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot resolve config directory: %w", err)
}
if info, err := os.Stat(abs); err != nil || !info.IsDir() {
    return fmt.Errorf("config directory does not exist: %s", abs)
}

Prevention

Run terraform test from an existing directory
Pass an absolute config directory path
Avoid renaming/removing the cwd while the process runs

When it happens

Trigger: filepath.Abs fails when the process's current working directory cannot be determined, e.g. the cwd was deleted or renamed underneath the process.

Common situations: Running terraform test from a directory that was removed or renamed while the process ran, or unusual filesystem/permission state.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/terraform@c9def3e214 (2026-08-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4e8727f96059bd41. Report an issue: GitHub.