process.env.PWD is not set on Windows 10 when using powershell

[Raiondesu]

• Version: v8.12.0
• Platform: Windows 10 Education 1803; Build 17134.706
• Subsystem: Process

Description

process.env.PWD logs undefined on Windows 10 PC using batch/powershell. Issue does not seem to be present when using bash on windows (either GitBash or using an Ubuntu subsystem).

Reproduction

Just do

> node
> process.env.PWD

( yields undefined )
on a Windows 10 PC.

If cannot reproduce - proceed to npm i https://github.com/ke-mantha/mantha.git#test in an empty directory.

[bnoordhuis]

Why are you reporting that here? process.env just reflects the environment that node was started in. If PWD wasn't present, then it won't be set in process.env either.

I'm closing this out. Let me know if there is reason to reopen.

[Raiondesu]

Sorry, I didn't know where else to post this. Also, there are multiple other issues regarding process.env in this repo.

And, btw, aren't some env variables set directly by node and npm?

If no - is there a way to consistently set PWD correctly outside of bash?

[addaleax]

@Raiondesu I’ve moved this issue to nodejs/help, that should be a good place for this – it doesn’t appear to be an issue with node itself, though.

And, btw, aren't some env variables set directly by node and npm?

Some are used internally by node (e.g. for communicating with child processes), but generally, node doesn’t set generic env vars. npm does so, a lot – mostly to communicate the current npm config with processes – but it’s a completely different piece of software, it just happens to be shipped together with node.

And, btw, aren't some env variables set directly by node and npm?

I mean, you an always include process.env.PWD = process.cwd(); in your code? That’s the most reliable thing to do anyway.

[Raiondesu]

@addaleax, thank you very much for moving this!

PWD and cwd sometimes seem to be different (as stated here): PWD consistently points to a folder with node_modules (project directory), whereas cwd() points to directory from which the command was executed. Even though, these things often mean the same, sometimes they're not equal.
For example, if you run some npm script not from the project's root, but from an src directory:

project/ <-- project root (PWD)
  - dist/
  - src/ <-- we run command from here (cwd)

in bash:

user@pc: /home/user/project/src$ npm run script-that-logs-cwd-and-pwd
cwd: /home/user/project/src
PWD: /home/user/project
user@pc: /home/user/project/src$ _

or

user@pc: /home/user/project/src$ node
> process.cwd()
/home/user/project/src
> process.env.PWD
/home/user/project

In Windows PowerShell, however, this behaviour is broken:

PS ...\project\src> npm run script-that-logs-cwd-and-pwd
cwd: ...\project\src
PWD: undefined

or

PS ...\project\src> node
> process.cwd()
...\project\src
> process.env.PWD
undefined

hence, there is no reliable way to determine the project root directory by running the script.

It is not obvious, if PWD is related to node or to OS, since there's practically no documentation for it anywhere.

[addaleax]

@Raiondesu As the linked stackoverflow question states, the reason that the two are different is that not every code that changes the current working directory also updates the PWD environment variable.

hence, there is no reliable way to determine the project root directory by running the script.

You could look up process.cwd() when the process is first started. The two values are typically only different when a part of the program explicitly calls process.chdir().

It is not obvious, if PWD is related to node or to OS, since there's practically no documentation for it anywhere.

It’s a bash feature: https://manpage.me/?q=bash (you can search for PWD).

[Raiondesu]

Ok, I guess, I clearly misunderstood this part.

Thank you very much for making it clear for me and everyone else who sees this. 😊