zed-industries/zed · error

Working directory cannot be empty

Error message

Working directory cannot be empty

What it means

Before sending session/new or session/load, Zed derives the session's cwd from the first entry of the work_dirs PathList; remaining entries become additional_directories (when the agent supports them). An empty list leaves no cwd to send — ACP requires one — so this error is thrown before any RPC is made.

Source

Thrown at crates/agent_servers/src/acp.rs:1481

        self,
        session_id: acp::SessionId,
        mcp_servers: Vec<acp::McpServer>,
    ) -> acp::ResumeSessionRequest {
        acp::ResumeSessionRequest::new(session_id, self.cwd)
            .additional_directories(self.additional_directories)
            .mcp_servers(mcp_servers)
    }
}

fn session_directories_from_work_dirs(
    work_dirs: &PathList,
    supports_additional_directories: bool,
) -> Result<SessionDirectories> {
    let mut ordered_paths = work_dirs.ordered_paths();
    let cwd = ordered_paths
        .next()
        .cloned()
        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Working directory cannot be empty"))?;
    let additional_directories = if supports_additional_directories {
        ordered_paths.cloned().collect()
    } else {
        Vec::new()
    };

    Ok(SessionDirectories {
        cwd,
        additional_directories,
    })
}

fn work_dirs_from_session_info(cwd: PathBuf, additional_directories: Vec<PathBuf>) -> PathList {
    let mut seen_paths = HashSet::default();
    let mut paths = Vec::with_capacity(1 + additional_directories.len());

    seen_paths.insert(cwd.clone());
    paths.push(cwd);

View on GitHub (pinned to bc538def45)

Solutions

1. Open a folder in the project so the work-dir list is non-empty, then retry
2. When building the request programmatically, always pass at least one existing directory

Example fix

// before — no working directory
open_session(&project, PathList::default(), cx)

// after — first entry becomes the session cwd
open_session(&project, PathList::new(vec![worktree_abs_path]), cx)

if work_dirs.ordered_paths().next().is_none() {
    // no cwd to send; require at least one directory before opening a session
    return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("provide a working directory"));
}

On 'Working directory cannot be empty', prompt the user to open a folder (creating a worktree) or supply a directory, then retry the session open.

When it happens

Trigger: open_or_create_session or load_session invoked with an empty work_dirs PathList — e.g. the project has no worktrees open, or a programmatic caller built the request without any directories.

Common situations: The agent panel is used in a window where only a single file (no folder) is open; a caller constructs a session request with an empty path list.

Related errors

• session was closed before load completed
• message not found
• no thread found with ID: {id:?}
• Project state not found for session
• Session not found

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@bc538def45 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/224727a99b27fd18. Report an issue: GitHub.