Windows app fails to get documents path at startup

[dmnsea]

Describe the bug.

I've tried all installation methods: for current user only, for all users, with both default and custom locations.

Each try finishes with:

An error occured during startup
Failed to get 'documents' path

Steps to reproduce:

1. Install (for any user) v2.10.0 from https://github.com/klembot/twinejs/releases/download/2.10.0/Twine-2.10.0-Windows.exe
2. Launch with shortcut from Desktop

Expected behavior:

Launched Twine window

Additional context on this problem.

I've launched in CLI mode as suggested at Twine troubleshooting / Won't start #Windows, and there's what i've got:

PS C:\Users\LocalUser> C:\Users\LocalUser\Desktop\Twine.lnk
PS C:\Users\LocalUser>
Couldn't read app prefs file; continuing Error: C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Roaming\Twine\app-prefs.json: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Roaming\Twine\app-prefs.json'
    at Object.openSync (node:fs:601:3)
    at Object.func [as openSync] (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:2:2131)
    at Object.readFileSync (node:fs:469:35)
    at Object.readFileSync (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:2:9462)
    at readFileSync (C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Local\Programs\Twine\resources\app.asar\node_modules\jsonfile\index.js:50:22)
    at loadJsonFileSync (C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Local\Programs\Twine\resources\app.asar\electron-build\main\src\electron\main-process\json-file.js:22:40)
    at loadAppPrefs (C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Local\Programs\Twine\resources\app.asar\electron-build\main\src\electron\main-process\app-prefs.js:40:56)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Local\Programs\Twine\resources\app.asar\electron-build\main\src\electron\main-process\index.js:10:30)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1271:14)
    at Object..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1326:10) {
  errno: -4058,
  syscall: 'open',
  code: 'ENOENT',
  path: 'C:\\Users\\LocalUser\\AppData\\Roaming\\Twine\\app-prefs.json'
}
App pref backupFolderPath set to undefined
App pref disableHardwareAcceleration set to undefined
App pref scratchFolderPath set to undefined
App pref scratchFileCleanupAge set to undefined
App pref storyLibraryFolderPath set to undefined
Initializing i18next without locale
Adding i18next translation resources
Getting locale preference
i18next::backendConnector: No backend was added via i18next.use. Will not load resources.
i18next: languageChanged en-us
i18next: initialized {
  debug: true,
  initImmediate: true,
  ns: [ 'translation' ],
  defaultNS: [ 'translation' ],
  fallbackLng: [ 'en-us' ],
  fallbackNS: false,
  whitelist: false,
  nonExplicitWhitelist: false,
  supportedLngs: false,
  nonExplicitSupportedLngs: false,
  load: 'currentOnly',
  preload: false,
  simplifyPluralSuffix: true,
  keySeparator: '.',
  nsSeparator: ':',
  pluralSeparator: '_',
  contextSeparator: '_',
  partialBundledLanguages: false,
  saveMissing: false,
  updateMissing: false,
  saveMissingTo: 'fallback',
  saveMissingPlurals: true,
  missingKeyHandler: false,
  missingInterpolationHandler: false,
  postProcess: false,
  postProcessPassResolved: false,
  returnNull: true,
  returnEmptyString: true,
  returnObjects: false,
  joinArrays: false,
  returnedObjectHandler: false,
  parseMissingKeyHandler: false,
  appendNamespaceToMissingKey: false,
  appendNamespaceToCIMode: false,
  overloadTranslationOptionHandler: [Function: handle],
  interpolation: { escapeValue: false },
  lng: 'en-us'
}
Preference couldn't be loaded, using default locale

PS C:\Users\LocalUser>

I've looked what's stored there at all and here's only "Local State" file:

PS C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Roaming> wsl tree Twine
Twine
└── Local State

0 directories, 1 file
PS C:\Users\LocalUser\AppData\Roaming>

P.S.: I've picked web build for temporarily usage unless desktop issue won't be solved

Twine version number

2.10.0

Does this problem occur with the web version of Twine or the desktop app?

Desktop app

What operating system does this problem occur on?

Windows

If this problem is occurring with the web version of Twine, what browser does it occur on?

None

Presubmission checklist

• I am interested in working on code that would fix this bug. (This is not required to submit a bug report.)
• I have done a search and believe that an issue does not already exist for this bug in the GitHub repository.
• If this problem is occurring with the app version of Twine, it still happens after I remove the user.css file from my Twine folder. (You would've added this file yourself. If you don't understand this question, you can safely check this box.)
• I have read and agree to abide by this project's Code of Conduct.

[greyelf]

@dmnsea
A couple of questions:

• Which Version and Edition of Windows are you using?
• Have you enabled Windows' "OneDrive Backup" feature?
• Have you relocated your My Documents folder to another drive?

[dmnsea]

• Windows 11 Pro, 22H2, Build 22621.2715
• Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22677.1000.0 (if needed)

"OneDrive Backup" is disabled, documents folder returned back to %homePath%.

System language in windows is russian, so instead of %homePath%\Documents it's reachable by %homePath%\Документы (if this matters)

[klembot]

This is a tough one because I think it is bound up with how Electron, the library we use to build executables, works. The exact call that is failing here is App.getPath('documents'). The docs say that this can error but doesn't say possible reasons why, so it's hard to say what is going wrong. It does seem significant that it seems to think that your home path is C:\Users\LocalUser -- is that the name of your user account?

Tagging this as help-wanted because I have a feeling this is related to a nuance of Windows I'm not aware of.

[dmnsea]

It does seem significant that it seems to think that your home path is C:\Users\LocalUser -- is that the name of your user account?

Yes, that's the homedir of my user profile

[klembot]

Hmm. My one guess was that it was looking in th wrong place, but that’s incorrect.