How to Debug a Working Directory Issue in GitHub Actions

Most path failures come from a step running in a different directory than you assume; pwd and ls show the truth.

Print pwd, ls -la, and $GITHUB_WORKSPACE at the start of the failing step. Each step starts in the workspace root unless it sets working-directory, so a relative path may not resolve where you think.

Steps

• Add pwd and ls -la before the failing command.
• Confirm the file you expect is actually present.
• Set working-directory if the command needs a subfolder.

Workflow

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - name: Show where I am
    run: |
      echo "pwd       = $(pwd)"
      echo "workspace = $GITHUB_WORKSPACE"
      ls -la
  - name: Build in a subfolder
    working-directory: services/api
    run: |
      pwd && ls -la
      npm ci && npm run build

Gotchas

• working-directory applies only to run: steps, not to uses: action steps.
• A missing actions/checkout means the repo files are simply not there yet.
• Each step resets to the workspace root; a cd in one step does not carry to the next.

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