hcengineering/platform · error · Error

Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallF

Error message

Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallFolder}): ${e}

What it means

_cleanInstallFolder prepares the package install folder: if the folder already exists and is not a valid prior install, it renames node_modules into the rush-recycler folder (or otherwise removes leftovers). Any filesystem failure during this cleanup — permission denied, cross-device rename, locked files — is wrapped as this error.

Source

Thrown at foundations/communication/common/scripts/install-run.js:607

    try {
        const flagFile = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, INSTALLED_FLAG_FILENAME);
        _deleteFile(flagFile);
        const packageLockFile = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, 'package-lock.json');
        if (lockFilePath) {
            fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.copyFileSync(lockFilePath, packageLockFile);
        }
        else {
            // Not running `npm ci`, so need to cleanup
            _deleteFile(packageLockFile);
            const nodeModulesFolder = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, NODE_MODULES_FOLDER_NAME);
            if (fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.existsSync(nodeModulesFolder)) {
                const rushRecyclerFolder = _ensureAndJoinPath(rushTempFolder, 'rush-recycler');
                fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.renameSync(nodeModulesFolder, path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.join(rushRecyclerFolder, `install-run-${Date.now().toString()}`));
            }
        }
    }
    catch (e) {
        throw new Error(`Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallFolder}): ${e}`);
    }
}
function _createPackageJson(packageInstallFolder, name, version) {
    try {
        const packageJsonContents = {
            name: 'ci-rush',
            version: '0.0.0',
            dependencies: {
                [name]: version
            },
            description: "DON'T WARN",
            repository: "DON'T WARN",
            license: 'MIT'
        };
        const packageJsonPath = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.join(packageInstallFolder, PACKAGE_JSON_FILENAME);
        fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.writeFileSync(packageJsonPath, JSON.stringify(packageJsonContents, undefined, 2));
    }
    catch (e) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 63e28dc964)

Solutions

Manually delete the stale install folder (and node_modules) and rerun.
Ensure RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER is on the same volume and writable by the script user.
Stop concurrent jobs/agents that use the same temp folder, or give each job a unique RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER.
On Windows, close editors/AV scanners that lock files, or reboot the runner to release locks.

Example fix

// before: shared temp between parallel jobs
// (both jobs use ~/.rush temp)
// after: per-job temp
export RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER="$RUNNER_TEMP/rush-$CI_JOB_ID"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const folder = process.env.RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER || require('os').tmpdir();
const fs = require('fs');
const stat = fs.statSync(folder);
fs.accessSync(folder, fs.constants.W_OK | fs.constants.X_OK);
if (fs.existsSync(folder) && !stat.isDirectory()) throw new Error('RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER must be a writable directory');

Try / catch

try { runInstall(); } catch (e) { if (/Error cleaning the package install folder/.test(e.message)) { console.error('Delete the stale install folder or set a unique RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER per job'); process.exit(1); } throw e; }

Prevention

Give each CI job its own RUSH_TEMP_FOLDER to avoid concurrency conflicts
Keep temp and recycler folders on the same volume (avoid EXDEV)
Disable AV/backup locking on the temp folder in Windows runners

When it happens

Trigger: installAndRun calls _cleanInstallFolder and the renameSync/unlink of the existing node_modules or install folder fails: read-only volume, target drive differs (EXDEV on rename across devices), files locked by another process, or the rush-recycler folder couldn't be created.

Common situations: Concurrent CI jobs sharing the same temp install folder; antivirus/backup holding files on Windows; temp folder and recycler folder on different mounts; leftover locked .bin shims from a killed run.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hcengineering/platform@63e28dc964 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/48773e99858df02a. Report an issue: GitHub.