Resolving "Permission Denied" Errors During Local Preview on Windows

When running spacectl preview on Windows, you may encounter a "permission denied" error during repository unpacking. This typically occurs when the system temporary directory lacks proper write permissions.

Common Error Message

The error usually appears similar to this:

FAILED: could not retrieve repository content from VCS: could not unarchive repository tarball file: reading file in tar archive: permission denied

Resolution Steps

1. Check Temporary Directory Permissions

   Ensure your Windows user has full write access to the temp folder located at:
   C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Local\Temp

2. Alternative Solutions

   • Set the TMPDIR environment variable to point to a known writable location

   • Run the preview using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) or Docker to bypass Windows-specific permission issues

3. Check Repository Location

   If your repository is stored in OneDrive or another cloud storage location, try cloning it to a local directory (like your desktop) to avoid potential permission conflicts.