linera-io/linera-protocol · error · anyhow::Error

Project name {name} should not contain path-separators

Error message

Project name {name} should not contain path-separators

What it means

Project::create_new scaffolds a new Linera application project into a directory named after the project; a path separator in the name would escape the intended directory, so any name containing '/' (or '\' on Windows, via std::path::is_separator) is rejected before anything is created.

Source

Thrown at linera-service/src/project.rs:29

use cargo_toml::Manifest;
use convert_case::{Case, Casing};
use current_platform::CURRENT_PLATFORM;
use fs_err::File;
use tracing::debug;

/// A Linera application project on disk, rooted at a given directory.
pub struct Project {
    root: PathBuf,
}

impl Project {
    /// Creates a new application project from the template, scaffolding its files.
    pub fn create_new(
        name: &str,
        linera_root: Option<&Path>,
        dir: Option<PathBuf>,
    ) -> Result<Self> {
        ensure!(
            !name.contains(std::path::is_separator),
            "Project name {name} should not contain path-separators",
        );
        let root = match dir {
            Some(dir) => dir,
            None => {
                let root = PathBuf::from(name);
                ensure!(
                    !root.exists(),
                    "Directory {} already exists",
                    root.display(),
                );
                root
            }
        };
        ensure!(
            root.extension().is_none(),
            "Project name {name} should not have a file extension",

View on GitHub (pinned to 6c226ddcb3)

Solutions

1. Use a plain name: `linera project new my-app`
2. To scaffold into a specific location, pass the directory separately (create_new's dir parameter) rather than embedding a path in the name
3. Replace separators with dashes

Example fix

# before
$ linera project new my/dapp
error: Project name my/dapp should not contain path-separators

# after
$ linera project new my-dapp

if name.contains(std::path::is_separator) {
    anyhow::bail!("project name must not contain path separators: {name}");
}

fn is_valid_project_name(name: &str) -> bool {
    !name.is_empty()
        && !name.contains(std::path::is_separator)
        && std::path::Path::new(name).extension().is_none()
}

When it happens

Trigger: `linera project new` with a name like `my/app`, `../evil`, or any other string containing a path separator.

Common situations: Passing a relative path instead of a bare name; copy-pasting 'org/app' style package names; Windows users typing backslashes.

Related errors

• Project name {name} should not have a file extension
• Directory {} already exists
• No Cargo.toml found at {}. The path must point to a Rust pro
• failed to initialize git repository at {}
• Only allowed options are grpc and grpcs

AI-assisted analysis of linera-io/linera-protocol@6c226ddcb3 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/382ceb4adf90654d. Report an issue: GitHub.