paperclipai/paperclip · error · Error

Working directory is not a directory

Error message

Working directory is not a directory: "${cwd}"

What it means

Error "Working directory is not a directory: "${cwd}"" thrown in paperclipai/paperclip.

Solutions

1. Point the working directory at a directory, not a file.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/adapter-utils/src/server-utils.ts:2523 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@3f1d897a7c (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7175a170c18c1213. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/adapter-utils/src/server-utils.ts:3514

}

async function resolveSpawnTarget(
  command: string,
  args: string[],
  cwd: string,
  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv,
  options: {
    remoteExecution?: RemoteExecutionSpec | null;
    remoteEnv?: Record<string, string> | null;
    localProcessSandbox?: LocalProcessSandboxOptions | null;
  } = {},
): Promise<SpawnTarget> {
  const remote = options.remoteExecution ?? null;
  if (remote) {
    const sshResolved = await resolveCommandPath("ssh", process.cwd(), env);
    if (!sshResolved) {
      throw new Error('Command not found in PATH: "ssh"');
    }
    const spawnTarget = await buildSshSpawnTarget({
      spec: remote,
      command,
      args,
      env: Object.fromEntries(
        Object.entries(options.remoteEnv ?? {}).filter(
          (entry): entry is [string, string] => typeof entry[1] === "string",
        ),
      ),
    });
    return {
      command: sshResolved,
      args: spawnTarget.args,
      cwd: process.cwd(),
      cleanup: spawnTarget.cleanup,
    };
  }

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