quarkusio/quarkus · error · MojoExecutionException

Could not create directory ${outputDirectory}

Error message

Could not create directory ${outputDirectory}

What it means

In CreateProjectMojo.execute(), after the Maven version check, Files.createDirectories(outputDirectory.toPath()) is wrapped into a MojoExecutionException 'Could not create directory <path>'. It means the directory where the new Quarkus project would be generated could not be created on disk.

Source

Thrown at devtools/maven/src/main/java/io/quarkus/maven/CreateProjectMojo.java:229

    /**
     * Whether to refresh the local extension catalog cache before searching for the recommended Quarkus extension versions
     */
    @Parameter(property = "refresh", defaultValue = "false")
    boolean refresh;

    @Component
    QuarkusWorkspaceProvider workspaceProvider;

    @Override
    public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException {

        // We detect the Maven version during the project generation to indicate the user immediately that the installed
        // version may not be supported.
        mavenVersionEnforcer.ensureMavenVersion(getLog(), session);
        try {
            Files.createDirectories(outputDirectory.toPath());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            throw new MojoExecutionException("Could not create directory " + outputDirectory, e);
        }

        final MavenArtifactResolver mvn;
        try {
            mvn = MavenArtifactResolver.builder()
                    .setRepositorySystem(repoSystem)
                    .setRepositorySystemSession(
                            getLog().isDebugEnabled() ? repoSession : MojoUtils.muteTransferListener(repoSession))
                    .setRemoteRepositories(repos)
                    .setRemoteRepositoryManager(remoteRepoManager)
                    .build();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new MojoExecutionException("Failed to initialize Maven artifact resolver", e);
        }

        final MojoMessageWriter log = new MojoMessageWriter(getLog());
        ExtensionCatalogResolver catalogResolver = getExtensionCatalogResolver(mvn, log);
        ExtensionCatalog catalog = resolveExtensionsCatalog(this, bomGroupId, bomArtifactId, bomVersion, stream,

View on GitHub (pinned to e1c734241f)

Solutions

1. Verify -DoutputDirectory points to a writable, non-existing-or-directory path and fix typos
2. Remove any file occupying a segment of the target path
3. Fix permissions/ownership of the target location or choose another directory
4. Check free disk space and mount status (read-only volumes)

Example fix

// before
mvn io.quarkus:quarkus-maven-plugin:create -DoutputDirectory=./pom.xml  // path is a file
// after
mvn io.quarkus:quarkus-maven-plugin:create -DoutputDirectory=./my-app

java.nio.file.Path out = java.nio.file.Path.of(outputDirectory).toAbsolutePath();
if (java.nio.file.Files.exists(out) && !java.nio.file.Files.isDirectory(out))
    throw new IllegalStateException("outputDirectory is a file: " + out);
if (!java.nio.file.Files.isWritable(out.getParent() != null ? out.getParent() : out))
    throw new IllegalStateException("Parent not writable: " + out);

try {
    mvn io.quarkus:quarkus-maven-plugin:create -DoutputDirectory=...
} catch (MojoExecutionException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Could not create directory")) {
        logger.error("Check path/permissions for {} before retrying", outputDirectory);
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Files.createDirectories(outputDirectory.toPath()) throws IOException — a file exists along the path, insufficient permissions, read-only mount, or invalid path characters.

Common situations: -DoutputDirectory typo (points at an existing file), generating into read-only CI workspace, permission-restricted shared folders, Windows path issues, disk full.

Related errors

• Unable to create directory: ${directory}
• Unable to collect the target directories
• Could not create directory ${outputDirectory}
• Failed to create <classesDir>
• Failed to create the output dir ${projectFile}

AI-assisted analysis of quarkusio/quarkus@e1c734241f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cc294c09631d9780. Report an issue: GitHub.