python io_error ai_generated true

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

ID: python/permissionerror-errno13

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
88%Fix Rate
87%Confidence
240Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
311 active — — —

Root Cause

Insufficient file system permissions. Common with system paths, Docker volumes, or pip installs.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 90% success Fix ownership with chown and use appropriate user permissions 
    chown -R $(whoami) /path/to/dir

    Sources: https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#os.chown

  2. 88% success Use virtual environments or user-local paths 
    pip install --user or python -m venv .venv

    Sources: https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Run with sudo 75% fail

    Creates root-owned files causing more permission issues later

  2. chmod 777 the directory 82% fail

    Security vulnerability, doesn't fix the ownership issue

Error Chain

Leads to:
Preceded by:
Frequently confused with: