sharkdp/fd · error · anyhow::Error

Could not retrieve current directory (has it been deleted?).

Error message

Could not retrieve current directory (has it been deleted?).

What it means

Thrown by ensure_current_directory_exists in src/cli.rs:967 when filesystem::is_existing_directory(cwd) returns false. fd captures the process cwd early and verifies it still resolves to a real directory; this guards every downstream operation that builds paths relative to '.'. The parenthetical '(has it been deleted?)' reflects the most common cause, but a cwd replaced by a file or a broken symlink also triggers it.

Source

Thrown at src/cli.rs:967

                     "
                ),
        )
    }

    fn augment_args_for_update(cmd: Command) -> Command {
        Self::augment_args(cmd)
    }
}

fn parse_millis(arg: &str) -> Result<Duration, std::num::ParseIntError> {
    Ok(Duration::from_millis(arg.parse()?))
}

fn ensure_current_directory_exists(current_directory: &Path) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
    if filesystem::is_existing_directory(current_directory) {
        Ok(())
    } else {
        Err(anyhow!(
            "Could not retrieve current directory (has it been deleted?)."
        ))
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 41532d114e)

Solutions

cd into a directory that exists: 'cd ~ && fd <pattern>'.
Recreate or restore the deleted directory, then re-run fd from the original shell.
Run fd with an explicit path argument and avoid relying on cwd: 'fd <pattern> /absolute/path'.

Example fix

// before
pwd   # /tmp/just-deleted
fd foo

// after
cd ~ && fd foo /tmp/just-deleted   # search an existing path instead

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if [ "$(pwd -P 2>/dev/null)" ]; then fd "$@"; else
  echo "cwd missing; cd somewhere valid first" >&2; exit 1
fi

Prevention

Before launching fd from scripts that mutate directories, verify 'pwd -P' still succeeds.
Pass explicit absolute search paths so fd does not depend on cwd.
Avoid deleting the working directory of a long-lived shell session.

When it happens

Trigger: In another terminal/session the cwd was rmdir'd, renamed, or replaced by a file between the shell's fork and fd's path check; running fd from a directory on a filesystem that has since been unmounted; cwd symlink chain dangling.

Common situations: A build job that deletes its working folder and then re-runs fd from the same shell; container teardown unmounting the volume that held cwd; NFS dropout leaving cwd stale.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of sharkdp/fd@41532d114e (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/036fddcbd3eca8e5.json. Report an issue: GitHub.