wavetermdev/waveterm · error

failed to create destination directory: %w

Error message

failed to create destination directory: %w

What it means

After validating the destination path, RenameAppFile creates the destination's parent directory with os.MkdirAll before renaming. If that mkdir fails, the error is wrapped as "failed to create destination directory". This usually reflects filesystem-level problems (permissions, full disk, path conflicts) rather than bad input.

Source

Thrown at pkg/waveappstore/waveappstore.go:399

	}

	appDir, err := GetAppDir(appId)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	fromPath, err := validateAndResolveFilePath(appDir, fromFileName)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid source path: %w", err)
	}

	toPath, err := validateAndResolveFilePath(appDir, toFileName)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid destination path: %w", err)
	}

	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(toPath), 0755); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create destination directory: %w", err)
	}

	if err := os.Rename(fromPath, toPath); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to rename file: %w", err)
	}

	return nil
}

func FormatGoFile(appId string, fileName string) error {
	if err := ValidateAppId(appId); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid appId: %w", err)
	}

	appDir, err := GetAppDir(appId)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. Check permissions on ~/waveapps/<ns>/<app> and its parent (need write + execute for the running user)
2. Verify free disk space with df on the home-directory volume
3. Check that no regular file exists at filepath.Dir(toPath) which blocks directory creation
4. Run the app/terminal process as a user that owns the waveapps tree

Example fix

// shell check before retry
ls -ld ~/waveapps/<ns>/<app> && df -h ~
// fix ownership
sudo chown -R "$USER" ~/waveapps

appDir, _ := GetAppDir(appId)
toPath := filepath.Join(appDir, filepath.Clean(toFileName))
parent := filepath.Dir(toPath)
if fi, err := os.Stat(parent); err == nil && !fi.IsDir() {
	return errors.New("destination parent exists as a file")
}
if err := unix.Access(parent, unix.W_OK); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("no write access to %s: %w", parent, err)

if err := RenameAppFile(appId, from, to); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to create destination directory") {
		// surface as environment/permissions problem, not user input error
		return fmt.Errorf("filesystem error creating dir for %q: %w", to, err)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(toPath), 0755) fails while renaming an app file into a new subdirectory — e.g. parent dir is read-only, disk is full, or a non-directory file exists at that path.

Common situations: ~/waveapps owned by another user or on a read-only mount; quota/disk-full on the volume holding the home directory; destination nested directory name colliding with an existing regular file.

Related errors

• failed to create backup directory: %w
• failed to create socket directory: %w
• failed to create log directory: %w
• failed to open log file: %w
• failed to read directory: %w

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4e8e46d9bf45d5e7. Report an issue: GitHub.