multica-ai/multica · error

create %s directory %s: %w

Error message

create %s directory %s: %w

What it means

materialiseInCodexHome calls root.MkdirAll for the parent directories of the destination (e.g. the parent of a config file copy) inside the verified os.Root. Failure means the intermediate directory could not be created: a non-directory file exists in the way, permissions, or a symlink leaves the root (os.Root rejects links that escape the task home).

Source

Thrown at server/internal/daemon/execenv/codex_home.go:1019

// daemon's mkdir, remove, or write outside it.
//
// This matters because a task home is reused: a prepare can run against a
// directory a previous task already wrote to. Without the root, a task that
// replaced an intermediate directory of its own home with a link to somewhere
// else would have the daemon delete and overwrite the link target on the next
// prepare. os.Root still allows links that stay inside the task home, which is
// harmless, and rejects the ones that leave it. The root itself is
// identity-checked by openVerifiedCodexHomeRoot.
func materialiseInCodexHome(codexHome, relPath, src, key string) error {
	root, err := openVerifiedCodexHomeRoot(codexHome, key)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer root.Close()

	if dir := filepath.Dir(relPath); dir != "." {
		if err := root.MkdirAll(dir, 0o755); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("create %s directory %s: %w", key, dir, err)
		}
	}
	if _, err := root.Lstat(relPath); err == nil {
		if err := root.Remove(relPath); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("remove stale %s copy %s: %w", key, relPath, err)
		}
	} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
		return fmt.Errorf("stat %s copy %s: %w", key, relPath, err)
	}

	in, err := os.Open(src)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("open %s %s: %w", key, src, err)
	}
	defer in.Close()

	out, err := root.OpenFile(relPath, os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_EXCL, 0o644)
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 2c0912b6ec)

Solutions

1. Inspect the offending intermediate path under the task home and remove the blocking file or escaping symlink
2. Reset/recreate the task home if its contents are untrusted
3. Check filesystem write permissions for the daemon user

dir := filepath.Join(codexHome, filepath.Dir(relPath))
if fi, err := os.Lstat(dir); err == nil && !fi.IsDir() {
	return fmt.Errorf("blocked path %s is not a directory", dir)
}

When it happens

Trigger: A previous task left a regular file where a directory is needed; a symlinked intermediate directory points outside the task home; read-only filesystem.

Common situations: Reused task home polluted by earlier task output; a task linked an intermediate dir to /tmp or another task's area.

Related errors

• codex home %s is a symlink; refusing to write %s through it
• resolve --%s path %q: %w
• resolve --attachment path %q: %w
• resolve symlink: %w
• open codex home %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of multica-ai/multica@2c0912b6ec (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/28249530378304bf. Report an issue: GitHub.