wavetermdev/waveterm · error

failed to resolve %s to absolute path: %w

Error message

failed to resolve %s to absolute path: %w

What it means

After reading EnvTsunamiScaffoldPath, validateEnvironmentVars calls filepath.Abs to convert it into an absolute path. If filepath.Abs fails (e.g. current working directory cannot be resolved because it was deleted), the build aborts with this wrapped error.

Source

Thrown at tsunami/cmd/main-tsunami.go:46

}

var versionCmd = &cobra.Command{
	Use:   "version",
	Short: "Print Tsunami version",
	Long:  `Print Tsunami version`,
	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
		fmt.Println("v" + tsunamibase.TsunamiVersion)
	},
}

func validateEnvironmentVars(opts *build.BuildOpts) error {
	scaffoldPath := os.Getenv(EnvTsunamiScaffoldPath)
	if scaffoldPath == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s environment variable must be set", EnvTsunamiScaffoldPath)
	}
	absScaffoldPath, err := filepath.Abs(scaffoldPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to resolve %s to absolute path: %w", EnvTsunamiScaffoldPath, err)
	}

	sdkReplacePath := os.Getenv(EnvTsunamiSdkReplacePath)
	if sdkReplacePath == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("%s environment variable must be set", EnvTsunamiSdkReplacePath)
	}
	absSdkReplacePath, err := filepath.Abs(sdkReplacePath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to resolve %s to absolute path: %w", EnvTsunamiSdkReplacePath, err)
	}

	opts.ScaffoldPath = absScaffoldPath
	opts.SdkReplacePath = absSdkReplacePath

	// NodePath is optional
	if nodePath := os.Getenv(EnvTsunamiNodePath); nodePath != "" {
		opts.NodePath = nodePath
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to a4447c1563)

Solutions

1. cd to a valid existing directory before running the command
2. Ensure TSUNAMI_SCAFFOLD_PATH points to a real path and the cwd exists
3. Recreate the working directory or restart the shell in a valid location

Example fix

// before
$ cd /tmp/old-dir && tsunami build  # dir deleted
// after
$ cd /path/to/project && tsunami build

scaffold := os.Getenv("TSUNAMI_SCAFFOLD_PATH")
if scaffold == "" {
    return errors.New("TSUNAMI_SCAFFOLD_PATH must be set")
}
if _, err := filepath.Abs(scaffold); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot resolve scaffold path (check cwd exists): %w", err)
}

if err := validateEnvironmentVars(opts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "absolute path") {
        log.Fatal("working directory invalid; cd to a real directory and retry")
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: TSUNAMI_SCAFFOLD_PATH is set but filepath.Abs returns an error — typically because os.Getwd fails since the process's working directory no longer exists.

Common situations: Running the tool from a directory that was deleted/recreated while the shell sat in it; a container or CI workspace removed before the step runs.

Related errors

• %s environment variable must be set
• setting auth key: %v
• no WAVETERM_TABID env var set
• no WAVETERM_TABID env var set
• no WAVETERM_TABID env var set

AI-assisted analysis of wavetermdev/waveterm@a4447c1563 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e479fcc0756b9252. Report an issue: GitHub.