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Workspace Permission Denied

Fix Workspace permission denied by testing normal-user write access, checking the selected path and permissions, and avoiding protected system folders.

On this page

First, match Workspace permission denied

This page targets Workspace permission denied. The full message can contain a few extra words on different operating systems or Node.js versions, but the core error code or phrase should match.

Workspace permission denied

EACCES permission denied workspace

permission denied in workspace

workspace permission error

Permission denied in workspace

When searching or asking for help, copy the full error and remove API keys, private repository names, usernames and sensitive paths.

Fast fix: Workspace permission denied

Create a small test folder under your normal user account, prove that you can create and delete a file there without administrator or root access, then select that exact folder in DSH.

What Workspace permission denied means

DSH reached the selected workspace, but the operating system or the active DSH permission setting blocked the requested file operation.

Common causes of Workspace permission denied

The workspace is a protected system directory.
The files belong to another user or require elevated permissions.
The directory is read-only, locked or mounted with restrictive permissions.
The active DSH permission preset does not allow the requested operation.

Source trace for Workspace permission denied

These links are pinned to the 0.1.2-alpha.5 / 49a606b snapshot used for this page. They help separate Workspace permission denied from failures produced by Node.js, PowerShell, the operating-system network stack or filesystem permissions.

Filesystem sandbox contractThe filesystem contract passes a per-call sandbox policy and workspace root into mutations; a sandboxing backend fences writes by that policy.Workspace-write enforcementThe implementation note documents that read-only denies writes and workspace-write fences targets to the writable-root set, explaining why an OS-writable folder can still be rejected by the active DSH policy.

Fix Workspace permission denied

01
Windows: create and test a user-owned folder
Run this in PowerShell. If it fails outside DSH, fix the Windows folder permission first.
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$HOME\dsh-test" -Force Set-Location "$HOME\dsh-test" New-Item .\permission-test.txt -ItemType File Remove-Item .\permission-test.txt
02
macOS or Linux: create and test a user-owned folder
If these commands fail outside DSH, fix the operating-system permission first.
mkdir -p ~/dsh-test && cd ~/dsh-test touch permission-test.txt rm permission-test.txt
03
Select the exact test folder in DSH
Use Choose workspace and select the dsh-test folder itself, not a system folder, network parent or your entire home directory.
04
Review the DSH approval or permission setting
Use the least access that can complete the harmless test, and read any approval prompt before accepting it.
05
Retry with one harmless file task
Ask DSH to create a small text file in the selected test folder and confirm that the file appears on disk.

Verify Workspace permission denied is fixed

Your normal user can create and remove a file in the folder outside DSH.
DSH can create a harmless test file after any required approval.
The result appears in the exact selected workspace on disk.

What to avoid

Do not run DSH as administrator or root as the default fix.
Do not start with system directories, production secrets or your entire home directory.
Do not approve a broader operation than the test actually requires.