pulumi/pulumi · error

changing the working directory: %w

Error message

changing the working directory: %w

What it means

After creating and entering the `--dir` target, `UseSpecifiedDir` calls os.Chdir. This error wraps a chdir failure — the directory could not be made the process working directory.

Source

Thrown at pkg/cmd/pulumi/project/newcmd/io.go:32

package newcmd

import (
	"fmt"
	"os"
)

// Ensure the directory exists and uses it as the current working
// directory.
func UseSpecifiedDir(dir string) (string, error) {
	// Ensure the directory exists.
	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, os.ModePerm); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("creating the directory: %w", err)
	}

	// Change the working directory to the specified directory.
	if err := os.Chdir(dir); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("changing the working directory: %w", err)
	}

	// Get the new working directory.
	var cwd string
	var err error
	if cwd, err = os.Getwd(); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("getting the working directory: %w", err)
	}
	return cwd, nil
}

// File or directory names that are considered invisible
// when considering whether a directory is empty.
var invisibleDirEntries = map[string]struct{}{
	".git": {},
	".hg":  {},
	".bzr": {},
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 793f7b2e16)

Solutions

1. Check execute (traverse) permission on every component of the --dir path
2. Verify the path is a real directory and not a symlink loop
3. Re-run the command; if a race, ensure no other process is removing the directory
4. Use a simpler local path for --dir

Example fix

// before
$ pulumi new go --dir /proc/self/x
changing the working directory: chdir /proc/self/x: ...
// after
$ pulumi new go --dir ./myproject

import os
p = os.path.abspath(target_dir)
assert os.path.isdir(p), f"{p} is not a directory"
assert os.access(p, os.X_OK), f"no traverse permission on {p}"

When it happens

Trigger: `pulumi new <template> --dir <path>` where os.Chdir fails: the directory was removed between creation and chdir (race), traversal permission denied on a parent, or dir resolves to something not enterable (e.g. a symlink loop).

Common situations: Deeply nested --dir paths where an intermediate directory lacks execute permission; NFS/network filesystems with flaky behavior; concurrent processes deleting the directory.

Related errors

• getting current working directory: %w
• error starting pulumi-watch: %w
• Could not locate an executable pulumi-watch, found %v withou
• writing temporary file: %w
• reading temporary file: %w

AI-assisted analysis of pulumi/pulumi@793f7b2e16 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa560973b6b7e090. Report an issue: GitHub.