hasura/graphql-engine · error

error in writing %s file: %w

Error message

error in writing %s file: %w

What it means

Create cannot write the merged actions.yaml file into the metadata directory (a.MetadataDir). os.WriteFile failed — the wrapped error names the OS-level cause (missing directory, permission denied, disk full, path is a directory).

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/metadataobject/actions/actions.go:241

				break
			}
		}
	}

	var common types.Common

	common.Actions = sdlFromResp.Actions
	common.CustomTypes = sdlFromResp.Types
	common.SetExportDefault()
	// write actions.yaml
	commonByt, err := yaml.Marshal(common)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in marshalling common: %w", err))
	}

	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(a.MetadataDir, a.Filename()), commonByt, 0o644)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in writing %s file: %w", a.Filename(), err))
	}

	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(a.MetadataDir, graphqlFileName), data, 0o644)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in writing %s file: %w", graphqlFileName, err))
	}

	return nil
}

func (a *ActionConfig) Codegen(name string, derivePld types.DerivePayload) error {
	var op errors.Op = "actions.ActionConfig.Codegen"

	err := a.ensureCliExt()
	defer a.cleanupCliExt()

	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error for the OS cause (ENOENT vs EACCES)
2. mkdir -p the metadata directory or fix the --metadata-dir /HASURA_METADATA_DIRECTORY setting
3. chmod/chown the directory so the current user can write, or run with appropriate privileges
4. Free disk space or remount the volume read-write if in a container

Example fix

# before
hasura actions codegen ... # metadata dir missing
# after
mkdir -p metadata/actions
hasura actions codegen ...

// Ensure the metadata dir is writable before Create
info, err := os.Stat(metadataDir)
if err != nil || !info.IsDir() {
    os.MkdirAll(metadataDir, 0o755)
}
if f, err := os.CreateTemp(metadataDir, ".w"); err == nil {
    f.Close()
    os.Remove(f.Name())
} else {
    return fmt.Errorf("metadata dir not writable: %w", err)
}

if err := actionCfg.Create(ctx); err != nil {
    if pe := new(fs.PathError); errors.As(err, &pe) {
        // handle OS-level write failure (permissions, missing dir)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running actions create/export when the metadata directory does not exist, is read-only, or the process lacks write permission; actions.yaml path occupied by a directory; no disk space.

Common situations: Running the CLI in CI as a non-root user against a checked-out repo with restrictive permissions; incorrect --metadata-dir flag pointing to a nonexistent path; Docker container with a read-only mount.

Related errors

• cannot write metadata to project: %w
• writing metadata to file: %w
• error removing migrations from project: %w
• failed to create seed file: %w
• error getting directory details: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5f674f814668fc86. Report an issue: GitHub.