hasura/graphql-engine · error

creating target seeds directory: %w

Error message

creating target seeds directory: %w

What it means

UpdateProjectV3 fails to create the seeds subdirectory for the target database (<seeds>/<targetDatabase>) while converting the project to config v3's per-database layout. It wraps the afero Mkdir error.

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/scripts/update-project-v3.go:179

		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("getting list of migrations to move: %w", err))
	}
	// move seed child directories
	// get directory names to move
	seedFilesToMove, err := getSeedFiles(opts.Fs, opts.SeedsAbsDirectoryPath)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("getting list of seed files to move: %w", err))
	}

	// create a new directory for TargetDatabase
	targetMigrationsDirectoryName := filepath.Join(opts.MigrationsAbsDirectoryPath, targetDatabase)
	if err = opts.Fs.Mkdir(targetMigrationsDirectoryName, 0o755); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("creating target migrations directory: %w", err))
	}

	// create a new directory for TargetDatabase
	targetSeedsDirectoryName := filepath.Join(opts.SeedsAbsDirectoryPath, targetDatabase)
	if err = opts.Fs.Mkdir(targetSeedsDirectoryName, 0o755); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("creating target seeds directory: %w", err))
	}

	// move migration directories to target database directory
	if err := copyMigrations(
		opts.Fs,
		migrationDirectoriesToMove,
		opts.MigrationsAbsDirectoryPath,
		targetMigrationsDirectoryName,
	); err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("moving migrations to target database directory: %w", err))
	}
	// move seed directories to target database directory
	if err := copyFiles(
		opts.Fs,
		seedFilesToMove,
		opts.SeedsAbsDirectoryPath,
		targetSeedsDirectoryName,
	); err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped error (EACCES/EEXIST/EROFS) and grant write access to the seeds directory
2. Delete partially created seeds/<database> directory before re-running
3. Verify the seeds path in config exists and is a writable directory
4. Re-run the update-project-v3 script

Example fix

# before
hasura scripts update-project-v3
# mkdir /path/to/seeds/postgres: permission denied

# after
sudo chown -R $USER seeds/
hasura scripts update-project-v3

if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(seedsDir, targetDB)); err == nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("target seeds dir already exists; remove it first")
}

if err := scripts.UpdateProjectV3(opts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "creating target seeds directory") { /* fix perms or remove existing dir */ }
}

When it happens

Trigger: `hasura scripts update-project-v3` with an unwritable, read-only, or already-occupied seeds directory path (permissions denied, directory exists from a partial run, same-named file present).

Common situations: Seeds directory owned by another user, CI running as non-root against a protected volume, or re-running the migration script after it failed halfway.

Related errors

• creating target migrations directory: %w
• cannot create global config directory: %w
• creating metadata file %s failed: %w
• getting list of seed files to move: %w
• moving seeds to target database directory: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b923c46bb10c65a9. Report an issue: GitHub.