fix(edit): return accurate error for paths outside workspace root by Jimmy-xuzimo · Pull Request #30752 · openclaw/openclaw

Jimmy-xuzimo · 2026-03-01T15:35:46Z

Summary

Problem: The Edit tool returned a misleading File not found error when given an absolute path outside the agent's workspace root. This was because toRelativePathInRoot throws "Path escapes workspace root" but the error was not being converted to an EACCES error code.
Why it matters: Users get confusing error messages when trying to edit files outside their workspace, making it hard to understand the actual issue.
What changed: Modified the access function in createHostEditOperations to catch the toRelativePathInRoot error and convert it to an EACCES error with a clear message, allowing pi-coding-agent's createEditTool to distinguish it from ENOENT (file not found).
What did NOT change: The overall file access behavior and security model remain unchanged.

Change Type

Bug fix

Scope

Gateway / orchestration

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Edit tool now returns Path escapes workspace root: <path> instead of File not found when attempting to edit files outside the workspace.

Security Impact

New permissions/capabilities? No
Secrets/tokens handling changed? No
New/changed network calls? No
Command/tool execution surface changed? No
Data access scope changed? No

Repro + Verification

Environment

OS: macOS (dev)
Runtime: Node.js 24.x

Steps

Attempt to edit a file outside the workspace:

{ "tool": "edit", "path": "/path/outside/workspace/file.txt", "oldText": "a", "newText": "b" }

Expected

Error message should indicate the path is outside the workspace.

Actual

Before fix: File not found: /path/outside/workspace/file.txt
After fix: Path escapes workspace root: /path/outside/workspace/file.txt

Evidence

Commands run:

pnpm exec vitest run src/agents/pi-tools.read.workspace-escape-error.test.ts
pnpm exec vitest run src/agents/pi-tools.read.host-edit-access.test.ts
pnpm exec oxlint --type-aware src/agents/pi-tools.read.ts
pnpm exec oxfmt --check src/agents/pi-tools.read.ts

Human Verification

Verified scenarios: editing files outside workspace, editing non-existent files inside workspace, editing existing files inside workspace.
Edge cases checked: directory traversal (../outside/file.txt).
What I did not verify: Live multi-agent orchestration scenarios.

Compatibility / Migration

Backward compatible? Yes
Config/env changes? No
Migration needed? No

Failure Recovery

How to disable/revert: revert this PR commit.
Files/config to restore: src/agents/pi-tools.read.ts
Known bad symptoms: Edit tool returns misleading error messages again.

Risks and Mitigations

Risk: None identified. This change only improves error messaging without affecting functionality.

Contributed by @Jimmy-xuzimo

greptile-apps · 2026-03-01T15:40:10Z

Greptile Summary

Fixed misleading error message when Edit tool receives paths outside workspace root. Previously returned "File not found" when toRelativePathInRoot threw for escaped paths; now correctly returns "Path escapes workspace root" with EACCES error code.

Modified access function in createHostEditOperations (src/agents/pi-tools.read.ts:845-857) to catch toRelativePathInRoot errors and convert to EACCES with clear message
Added comprehensive test coverage for workspace boundary enforcement scenarios
Change is minimal, focused, and backwards-compatible (only improves error messaging)

Confidence Score: 5/5

This PR is safe to merge with no identified risks
The change is minimal and focused on improving error messaging without altering functionality. Comprehensive test coverage validates the fix for all scenarios (paths outside workspace, non-existent files inside workspace, directory traversal attempts). The implementation correctly converts workspace boundary violations to EACCES errors, allowing the Edit tool to distinguish them from ENOENT errors. No breaking changes or security concerns.
No files require special attention

_{Last reviewed commit: 12efc98}

The Edit tool returned a misleading 'File not found' error when given an absolute path outside the agent's workspace root. This was because toRelativePathInRoot throws 'Path escapes workspace root' but the error was not being converted to an EACCES error code. This fix ensures that when a path is outside the workspace, the access function throws an EACCES error with a clear 'Path escapes workspace root' message, allowing pi-coding-agent's createEditTool to distinguish it from ENOENT (file not found) and show the correct error message. - Fixes openclaw#30724 - Related to openclaw#30711 - Adds tests for workspace escape error handling

Jimmy-xuzimo · 2026-03-01T16:19:31Z

@openclaw/maintainers @byungsker

✅ Update: This PR has been updated:

Rebased onto latest main branch
All tests passing - verified with pnpm exec vitest run src/agents/pi-tools.read --reporter=verbose
Code quality checks passed - oxlint and oxfmt

This fix addresses issue #30724 where the Edit tool returned misleading "File not found" errors for paths outside workspace root. Now it correctly returns "Path escapes workspace root" with EACCES error code.

Ready for review and merge! 🚀

Contributed by @Jimmy-xuzimo

openclaw-barnacle · 2026-03-01T16:19:39Z

Please don’t spam-ping multiple maintainers at once. Be patient, or join our community Discord for help: https://discord.gg/clawd

path.resolve() treats ~ as a literal directory name, so ~/file.txt resolved to <cwd>/~/file.txt instead of /home/user/file.txt. Add expandHomePrefix() before path.resolve() in all affected tool path resolution points: - Host write operations (mkdir, writeFile) in non-workspace mode - Host edit operations (readFile, writeFile, access) in non-workspace mode - toRelativePathInRoot() workspace boundary validator (affects all tools) - resolveWorkdir() for non-sandbox exec/bash working directory - parseSandboxBindMount() for Docker bind mount host paths The host read tool and sandbox tools already handled tilde via the upstream library's expandPath(). Closes openclaw#30669 Related: openclaw#30782, openclaw#30788, openclaw#30744, openclaw#30770, openclaw#30756, openclaw#30753, openclaw#30752, openclaw#30747

steipete · 2026-03-02T01:21:46Z

Superseded by a landed fix on .

landed via fix(tools): report correct error when Edit path escapes workspace root #31015
commit: da80e22d8f124a295f24d0c3f614534db8e7ba9f

Closing this PR as duplicate/superseded to keep one canonical patch path.

steipete · 2026-03-02T01:22:20Z

Correction with exact refs:

superseded by landed fix fix(tools): report correct error when Edit path escapes workspace root #31015 on main
commit: da80e22d8f124a295f24d0c3f614534db8e7ba9f

path.resolve() treats ~ as a literal directory name, so ~/file.txt resolved to <cwd>/~/file.txt instead of /home/user/file.txt. Add expandHomePrefix() before path.resolve() in all affected tool path resolution points: - Host write operations (mkdir, writeFile) in non-workspace mode - Host edit operations (readFile, writeFile, access) in non-workspace mode - toRelativePathInRoot() workspace boundary validator (affects all tools) - resolveWorkdir() for non-sandbox exec/bash working directory - parseSandboxBindMount() for Docker bind mount host paths The host read tool and sandbox tools already handled tilde via the upstream library's expandPath(). Closes openclaw#30669 Related: openclaw#30782, openclaw#30788, openclaw#30744, openclaw#30770, openclaw#30756, openclaw#30753, openclaw#30752, openclaw#30747

openclaw-barnacle bot added agents Agent runtime and tooling size: S labels Mar 1, 2026

Jimmy-xuzimo force-pushed the fix/edit-tool-workspace-escape-error branch from 4930c76 to 5d7ab61 Compare March 1, 2026 16:19

thomasxm mentioned this pull request Mar 1, 2026

fix(agents): expand tilde in tool file paths #30847

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thomasxm mentioned this pull request Mar 1, 2026

fix(agents): expand tilde in tool file paths #30866

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steipete closed this Mar 2, 2026

thomasxm mentioned this pull request Mar 3, 2026

fix(agents): expand tilde in tool file paths #33501

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fix(edit): return accurate error for paths outside workspace root#30752

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Jimmy-xuzimo commented Mar 1, 2026

Summary

Change Type

Scope

Linked Issue/PR

User-visible / Behavior Changes

Security Impact

Repro + Verification

Environment

Steps

Expected

Actual

Evidence

Human Verification

Compatibility / Migration

Failure Recovery

Risks and Mitigations

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greptile-apps bot commented Mar 1, 2026

Greptile Summary

Confidence Score: 5/5

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Jimmy-xuzimo commented Mar 1, 2026

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steipete commented Mar 2, 2026

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