GitHub Actions "working-directory ... no such file or directory"

A step fails immediately because its working-directory does not exist - the path is wrong relative to the workspace, or the directory is created later in the job than the step that cd-s into it.

What this error means

A run step errors before its command executes with a message that the working-directory does not exist, even though the command itself is valid.

Error: An error occurred trying to start process '/usr/bin/bash'
with working directory '/home/runner/work/repo/repo/app'.
No such file or directory

Common causes

Path does not exist or is misspelled

working-directory is resolved relative to the workspace. A typo, or a subdirectory that the checkout did not create, fails before the command runs.

Directory created later than the step

Setting working-directory to a path that a prior step has not yet generated (for example a build output dir) fails because it is not there at step start.

How to fix it

Point at an existing path

Use a path relative to the repository root that exists after checkout, or set defaults.run.working-directory for the whole job.

defaults:
  run:
    working-directory: app
steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - run: npm ci   # runs in ./app

Create the directory before using it

1. Add a mkdir -p step before any step whose working-directory needs it.
2. Confirm the checkout actually placed the subdirectory you expect.
3. Remember working-directory does not apply to uses: steps, only run:.

How to prevent it

• Use defaults.run.working-directory for a consistent base path.
• Create generated directories before steps that cd into them.
• Keep paths relative to the repo root and verify after checkout.

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