Working directory

The working directory (cwd) controls where exec participants run their shell commands. Duckflux resolves it through three levels, each overriding the previous.

Precedence levels

The runtime evaluates working directory from lowest to highest priority:

Process working directory — the directory from which you invoke quack run. This is the implicit default when nothing else is configured.
CLI --cwd flag — sets a base directory for the entire execution, overriding the process directory. Useful when the workflow file lives in a different location from the project it operates on.
Terminal window
```
quack run workflow.yaml --cwd /workspace/my-project
```
defaults.cwd — declared in the workflow file itself. Applies to all exec participants that don’t define their own cwd.
```
defaults:
  cwd: ./repo
```
participant.cwd — set on an individual participant. Has the highest priority, overriding all other levels.
```
participants:
  build:
    type: exec
    run: npm run build
    cwd: ./packages/frontend
```

How they combine

Level	Set by	Scope
Process cwd	OS / shell	All participants (implicit)
`--cwd`	CLI flag	All participants
`defaults.cwd`	Workflow file	All `exec` participants
`participant.cwd`	Participant definition	Single participant

A higher-priority level completely replaces lower ones. They do not merge or concatenate.

Common patterns

Workflow that operates on a repository clone

defaults:
  cwd: ./repo

flow:
  - type: exec
    run: git clone $REPO_URL .

  - type: exec
    run: npm install

  - type: exec
    run: npm test

All three steps execute inside ./repo.

Per-participant overrides in a monorepo

defaults:
  cwd: ./repo

participants:
  buildFrontend:
    type: exec
    run: npm run build
    cwd: ./repo/packages/frontend

  buildBackend:
    type: exec
    run: npm run build
    cwd: ./repo/packages/backend

flow:
  - type: exec
    run: npm install
  - parallel:
      - buildFrontend
      - buildBackend

The npm install runs in ./repo (from defaults.cwd), while each build step overrides with its own path.

Dynamic cwd from inputs

inputs:
  packagePath:
    type: string

flow:
  - type: exec
    run: npm run build
    cwd: workflow.inputs.packagePath

The caller decides which directory to use at runtime.

Sub-workflows

When using type: workflow, paths in the sub-workflow’s defaults.cwd and participant.cwd are resolved relative to the sub-workflow file’s directory, not the parent’s working directory. See Nested workflows for details.