paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath} must

Error message

Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath} must have permissions 0700

What it means

Permission guard in enforceSecretsDirectoryPermissions: the directory still exposes group/other bits after a best-effort chmod to 0700. A looser directory would let other local users list/replace secret files inside, so startup refuses.

Source

Thrown at server/src/services/decision-signing.ts:61

function enforceSecretsDirectoryPermissions(directoryPath: string) {
  let stats = lstatSync(directoryPath);
  if (!stats.isDirectory()) {
    throw new Error(`Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath} must be a directory`);
  }
  assertOwnedByCurrentUser(stats, `Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath}`);
  if (process.platform === "win32") return;

  const mode = stats.mode & 0o777;
  if ((mode & 0o077) !== 0) {
    chmodSync(directoryPath, 0o700);
    stats = lstatSync(directoryPath);
    if (!stats.isDirectory()) {
      throw new Error(`Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath} must be a directory`);
    }
    assertOwnedByCurrentUser(stats, `Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath}`);
    if ((stats.mode & 0o077) !== 0) {
      throw new Error(`Decision signing secrets directory at ${directoryPath} must have permissions 0700`);
    }
  }
}

function readGeneratedSecret(keyPath: string): string {
  enforceKeyFilePermissions(keyPath);
  const existing = readFileSync(keyPath, "utf8").trim();
  if (existing.length < MIN_SECRET_LENGTH) {
    throw new Error(
      `Invalid decision signing key at ${keyPath} (must be at least ${MIN_SECRET_LENGTH} characters); remove the file to regenerate it or set PAPERCLIP_DECISION_SIGNING_SECRET`,
    );
  }
  return existing;
}

function isAlreadyExists(error: unknown) {
  return (error as NodeJS.ErrnoException).code === "EEXIST";
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

1. Set permissions to 0700 on the secrets directory: chmod 0700 <directoryPath>.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/src/services/decision-signing.ts:61 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1adc277107cc04fa. Report an issue: GitHub.