lima-vm/lima · error

expected the depth of the host working directory (%#q) to be

Error message

expected the depth of the host working directory (%#q) to be at least %d, only got %d (Hint: %s)

What it means

Rsync acts on the host working directory as the transfer root, so Lima requires the path to be at least `rsyncMinimumSrcDirDepth` components deep to avoid syncing an overly broad tree (e.g. a drive or home root). When the native host path's depth (counting extra Windows components like `/c/` or `/cygdrive/c/`) is below that minimum, shellAction aborts with this error.

Source

Thrown at cmd/limactl/shell.go:259

	if err != nil {
		// An empty hostCurrentDir would reach rsync as the toolchain root.
		if syncHostWorkdir {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to determine the host directory to sync: %w", err)
		}
		changeDirCmd = "false"
		logrus.WithError(err).Warn("failed to get the current directory")
	}
	if syncHostWorkdir {
		if _, err := exec.LookPath(string(copytool.BackendRsync)); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("rsync is required for `--sync` but not found: %w", err)
		}

		// Measure the host's own path. The form hostCurrentDir carries on Windows
		// adds one component (/c/...) or two (/cygdrive/c/...).
		srcWdDepth := pathDepth(hostCurrentDirNative, runtime.GOOS == "windows")
		if srcWdDepth < rsyncMinimumSrcDirDepth {
			return fmt.Errorf("expected the depth of the host working directory (%#q) to be at least %d, only got %d (Hint: %s)",
				hostCurrentDirNative, rsyncMinimumSrcDirDepth, srcWdDepth, "cd to a deeper directory")
		}
		// rsync acts on hostCurrentDir, so measure that too: cygpath can report
		// success without writing a path, and an fstab can map a deep directory
		// onto a shallow one. It is always POSIX form, even on Windows.
		if dstWdDepth := pathDepth(hostCurrentDir, false); dstWdDepth < rsyncMinimumSrcDirDepth {
			return fmt.Errorf("expected the depth of the converted host working directory (%#q) to be at least %d, only got %d",
				hostCurrentDir, rsyncMinimumSrcDirDepth, dstWdDepth)
		}
	}

	var destRsyncDir string
	workDir, err := cmd.Flags().GetString("workdir")
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if workDir != "" && syncHostWorkdir {
		return errors.New("cannot use `--workdir` and `--sync` at the same time")

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. `cd` into a deeper, project-specific directory before running the command (as the error's Hint says).
2. Pass an explicit deeper directory to `--sync <deep/dir>` instead of relying on the cwd.
3. If you truly need to sync a shallow root, copy the tree into a deeper staging directory first.

Example fix

# before
cd ~ && limactl shell default --sync
# after
cd ~/projects/myapp && limactl shell default --sync

depth() { local p="$1"; local n=0; while [ "$p" != "/" ]; do n=$((n+1)); p=$(dirname "$p"); done; echo "$n"; }; [ "$(depth "$PWD")" -ge 3 ] || { echo 'cd to a deeper directory'; exit 1; }

null

null

When it happens

Trigger: Running `limactl shell <instance> --sync <dir>` where `<dir>` (or the current directory) resolves to a shallow path such as `/`, `/home`, `/Users`, or on Windows a near-root path once the drive prefix components are counted.

Common situations: Developers `cd` to their home directory or drive root and run `--sync`, expecting only a small folder to sync; CI jobs running from a shallow workspace root like `/work`.

Related errors

• rsync is required for `--sync` but not found: %w
• expected the depth of the converted host working directory (
• failed to create the synced workdir in guest instance: %w
• failed to get rsync version: %w
• cannot use `--sync` when the instance has host mounts config

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9b8b7bc5e0262e08. Report an issue: GitHub.