wavetermdev/waveterm · error

cwd is empty

Error message

cwd is empty

What it means

checkCwd validates the working directory before spawning a local shell process. If the cwd string is empty, it returns "cwd is empty" without attempting any I/O. This guards cmd.Dir from being set to an invalid empty value and failing later in exec.

Source

Thrown at pkg/shellexec/shellexec.go:112

	}
}

func ExitCodeFromWaitErr(err error) int {
	if err == nil {
		return 0
	}
	if exitErr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
		if status, ok := exitErr.Sys().(syscall.WaitStatus); ok {
			return status.ExitStatus()
		}
	}
	return -1

}

func checkCwd(cwd string) error {
	if cwd == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("cwd is empty")
	}
	if _, err := os.Stat(cwd); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error statting cwd %q: %w", cwd, err)
	}
	return nil
}

type PipePty struct {
	remoteStdinWrite *os.File
	remoteStdoutRead *os.File
}

func (pp *PipePty) Fd() uintptr {
	return pp.remoteStdinWrite.Fd()
}

func (pp *PipePty) Name() string {
	return "pipe-pty"

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Set a valid cwd before starting the shell (default to os.UserHomeDir() or "/")
2. Ensure the block controller's state carries a non-empty cwd
3. Fix connection/workspace config so cwd resolves to the user's home

Example fix

// before
proc, err := shellexec.StartLocalShellProc(ctx, termSize, cmdStr, cmdOpts, "")
// after
cwd := state.Cwd
if cwd == "" {
    home, herr := os.UserHomeDir()
    if herr != nil { home = "/" }
    cwd = home
}
proc, err := shellexec.StartLocalShellProc(ctx, termSize, cmdStr, cmdOpts, cwd)

func ensureCwd(cwd string) (string, error) {
    if cwd == "" {
        home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
        if err != nil { return "", err }
        return home, nil
    }
    return cwd, nil
}

proc, err := shellexec.StartLocalShellProc(ctx, termSize, cmdStr, cmdOpts, cwd)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "cwd is empty") {
    cwd, _ = os.UserHomeDir()
    proc, err = shellexec.StartLocalShellProc(ctx, termSize, cmdStr, cmdOpts, cwd)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling StartLocalShellProc with a block controller / shell state whose cwd field is unset (empty string), e.g. a block created without a valid working directory.

Common situations: Block state missing cwd because the connection config never resolved a home directory, a fresh install where home is unset, or the shell state was cleared.

Related errors

• error statting cwd %q: %w
• invalid AIMessage: %w
• part %d: text type requires non-empty text field
• invalid environment variable name: %q
• invalid format of user@host argument

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/04399f2c46b21a5f. Report an issue: GitHub.