FAQ · P0

TMPDIR / hidden-directory pitfalls

When Ghidra headless refuses project paths but doctor still looks healthy.

Symptom

Every Ghidra-backed operation aborts. Provider doctor may still report a healthy install because the JDK/Ghidra directories exist — the failure is in the runtime project path, not the install check.

Cause

If TMPDIR / TEMP / REA’s runtime root contains a path segment that starts with . (a hidden directory component), Ghidra headless may reject that project location. Dotfiles are common on Unix temp layouts and some sandboxes.

Fix

Point temp to a path without dot-prefixed segments, for example /var/tmp/rea-work or C:\Temp\rea.
Export the new temp for the shell that launches MCP, then retry the operation.
Re-run provider doctor after the change; also attempt a tiny known-good binary to confirm end-to-end.

# example (Unix)
export TMPDIR=/var/tmp/rea-work
mkdir -p "$TMPDIR"
npx -y rea-agents@latest doctor --provider ghidra --json