fix(cli): use os.homedir() for home directory warning check by TirthNaik-99 · Pull Request #25890 · google-gemini/gemini-cli

TirthNaik-99 · 2026-04-23T22:40:15Z

The home directory warning incorrectly used the core homedir() helper
which respects the GEMINI_CLI_HOME environment variable. When
GEMINI_CLI_HOME is set to a non-home directory, the warning could fire
in subdirectories or miss the actual home directory entirely.

Switch to Node's native os.homedir() so the check always compares
against the real OS home directory, and normalize both resolved paths
before comparison to handle trailing-slash and separator edge cases.

Add test coverage for subdirectories, symlinked home directories, and
GEMINI_CLI_HOME override scenarios.

Fixes #22309

Summary

Fix home directory warning triggering incorrectly in subdirectories by using os.homedir() instead of the core homedir() helper, and normalizing paths before comparison.

Details

The core homedir() from @google/gemini-cli-core respects the GEMINI_CLI_HOME env var, which is intended for config directory resolution — not for checking if the user is literally in their OS home directory. Replaced with Node's native os.homedir().
Added path.normalize() on both fs.realpath() outputs before the === comparison to handle trailing-slash and separator edge cases across platforms.
Added 4 new test cases: subdirectory of home, symlinked home + subdirectory, symlinked home (exact match), and GEMINI_CLI_HOME override scenario.

Related Issues

Fixes #22309

How to Validate

Run the unit tests: npx vitest run packages/cli/src/utils/userStartupWarnings.test.ts - All 13 tests should pass.
Run the type check: npx tsc --noEmit -p packages/cli/tsconfig.json
Run the build: npm run build
Manual validation:
- Run gemini from your home directory (cd ~) — warning should appear
- Run gemini from a subdirectory (cd ~/some-project) — warning should NOT appear

Pre-Merge Checklist

gemini-code-assist · 2026-04-23T22:40:23Z

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request addresses an issue where the Gemini CLI incorrectly triggers a home directory warning when running in subdirectories. By switching to the native OS home directory resolution and adding path normalization, the CLI now accurately distinguishes between the actual home directory and its subdirectories, improving the user experience and preventing unnecessary warnings.

Highlights

Home Directory Detection: Replaced the core homedir() helper with Node's native os.homedir() to ensure the warning check correctly identifies the OS home directory regardless of GEMINI_CLI_HOME overrides.
Path Normalization: Implemented path.normalize() on both workspace and home directory paths to prevent false positives caused by trailing slashes or platform-specific separator differences.
Test Coverage: Added comprehensive test cases covering subdirectories, symlinked home directories, and environment variable overrides to ensure robust warning behavior.

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gemini-code-assist

Code Review

This pull request updates the home directory detection logic in userStartupWarnings.ts by switching to node:os and applying path normalization to handle symlinks and subdirectories correctly. It also adds several test cases to verify these scenarios. One review comment identifies a violation of the repository's testing style guide, specifically recommending the use of vi.stubEnv() instead of direct process.env modification to prevent test leakage.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-04-23T22:42:41Z

+      await fs.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });
+      const originalEnv = process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];
+      process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = projectDir;
+
+      const warnings = await getUserStartupWarnings({}, projectDir);
+      expect(warnings.find((w) => w.id === 'home-directory')).toBeUndefined();
+
+      if (originalEnv === undefined) {
+        delete process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];
+      } else {
+        process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = originalEnv;


Directly modifying process.env is discouraged in this repository as it can lead to test leakage and is less reliable than using built-in Vitest utilities. Per the repository style guide, you should use vi.stubEnv() to set environment variables. Please also ensure that vi.unstubAllEnvs() is added to the afterEach block (around line 65) to properly clean up the environment after each test.

Suggested change

await fs.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });

const originalEnv = process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];

process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = projectDir;

const warnings = await getUserStartupWarnings({}, projectDir);

expect(warnings.find((w) => w.id === 'home-directory')).toBeUndefined();

if (originalEnv === undefined) {

delete process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'];

} else {

process.env['GEMINI_CLI_HOME'] = originalEnv;

vi.stubEnv('GEMINI_CLI_HOME', projectDir);

const warnings = await getUserStartupWarnings({}, projectDir);

expect(warnings.find((w) => w.id === 'home-directory')).toBeUndefined();

References

When testing code that depends on environment variables, use vi.stubEnv('NAME', 'value') in beforeEach and vi.unstubAllEnvs() in afterEach. Avoid modifying process.env directly as it can lead to test leakage and is less reliable. ^(link)

scidomino

You have check failures. Also:

In Node.js, path.normalize() does not strip trailing slashes (e.g., path.normalize('/a/b/c/') !== path.normalize('/a/b/c')). If the goal is robust path comparison that ignores trailing slashes, using path.resolve(pathA) === path.resolve(pathB) or path.relative(pathA, pathB) === '' would be the accurate way to achieve this. Given fs.realpath rarely leaves trailing slashes anyway (except for root directories), it may not be a functional bug in practice, but the logic/comment doesn't match the reality of Node.js's path module.

github-actions · 2026-05-04T21:44:57Z

🛑 Action Required: Evaluation Approval

Steering changes have been detected in this PR. To prevent regressions, a maintainer must approve the evaluation run before this PR can be merged.

Maintainers:

Go to the Workflow Run Summary.
Click the yellow 'Review deployments' button.
Select the 'eval-gate' environment and click 'Approve'.

Once approved, the evaluation results will be posted here automatically.

TirthNaik-99 · 2026-05-04T21:46:53Z

Thanks for the review @scidomino! I've addressed your feedback:

Replaced path.normalize() with path.resolve() which correctly strips trailing slashes
The vi.stubEnv() and vi.unstubAllEnvs() changes from the earlier bot review are also included

Note: The branch has picked up extra merge commits from syncing with main : the actual changes are only in 2 files (userStartupWarnings.ts and userStartupWarnings.test.ts). Happy to squash or rebase if you'd prefer a cleaner history.

scidomino · 2026-05-04T21:51:55Z

No worries. I rebased it for you. Reviewing it now.

scidomino · 2026-05-04T21:56:08Z

Something's wrong with the commit signature since it's failing the cla check. Maybe squash everything into one commit and resign it.

TirthNaik-99 · 2026-05-04T22:18:44Z

@googlebot I signed it.

scidomino · 2026-05-04T22:29:08Z

I know you signed it but we're still getting an error and we can't proceed until it's resolved:

The specific error:

It doesn't make sense to me but it looks like maybe you didn't sign with the right credentials.

Use Node's native os.homedir() instead of the core homedir() helper which respects GEMINI_CLI_HOME. Apply path.resolve() for robust trailing-slash-safe comparison. Add test coverage for subdirectories, symlinked home directories, and GEMINI_CLI_HOME override scenarios. Fixes google-gemini#22309

TirthNaik-99 · 2026-05-04T22:34:18Z

@googlebot I signed it.

…emini#25890)

TirthNaik-99 requested a review from a team as a code owner April 23, 2026 22:40

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed Apr 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

gemini-cli Bot added area/core Issues related to User Interface, OS Support, Core Functionality help wanted We will accept PRs from all issues marked as "help wanted". Thanks for your support! labels Apr 23, 2026

HaleTom mentioned this pull request May 3, 2026

fix(cli): use os.homedir() for home directory warning check #26410

Closed

Adib234 self-assigned this May 4, 2026

scidomino requested changes May 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

TirthNaik-99 requested review from a team as code owners May 4, 2026 21:44

TirthNaik-99 requested a deployment to eval-gate May 4, 2026 21:45 — with GitHub Actions Waiting

scidomino force-pushed the fix/home-dir-warning-subdirectory branch from 23954d5 to 0c7f5e5 Compare May 4, 2026 21:51

scidomino approved these changes May 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

TirthNaik-99 force-pushed the fix/home-dir-warning-subdirectory branch 2 times, most recently from e248a34 to a8b6e42 Compare May 4, 2026 22:17

TirthNaik-99 force-pushed the fix/home-dir-warning-subdirectory branch from a8b6e42 to 7889e57 Compare May 4, 2026 22:32

TirthNaik-99 force-pushed the fix/home-dir-warning-subdirectory branch from 7889e57 to d4e2f27 Compare May 4, 2026 22:33

scidomino enabled auto-merge May 4, 2026 23:12

scidomino added this pull request to the merge queue May 4, 2026

Merged via the queue into google-gemini:main with commit 8f0edcd May 4, 2026
27 checks passed

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request May 5, 2026

📊 AI CLI 工具社区动态日报 2026-05-05 zx0828/big_model_radar#33

Open

kimjune01 pushed a commit to kimjune01/gemini-cli-claude that referenced this pull request May 6, 2026

fix(cli): use os.homedir() for home directory warning check (google-g…

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fix(cli): use os.homedir() for home directory warning check#25890

fix(cli): use os.homedir() for home directory warning check#25890
scidomino merged 1 commit intogoogle-gemini:mainfrom
TirthNaik-99:fix/home-dir-warning-subdirectory

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TirthNaik-99 commented Apr 23, 2026

Summary

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