One-line install script does not handle home directory (tilde character) shorthand in paths
Overview
The first one-line install script question "Where would you like to install the GDK?" does not handle the tilde character nicely.
I was doing a fresh install on a MacBook and in response to that question above, I input ~/dev/ee as my desired directory. I was nested within my profile's home directory (/Users/tristan/dev aka ~/dev/) already. The script proceeded to attempt to install into ~/dev/~/dev/ee.
I believe the ~ in the path caused some errors, as I got weird behavior part-way through (it hung in a git clone command), and only upon investigating this noticed the weird directory. Deleting the GDK and starting again with a non-tilde path avoided the error.
Inputting a non-standard path may not always cause errors but it could be confusing/unexpected to users.
Impacted categories
The following categories relate to this issue:
-
gdk-reliability - e.g. When a GDK action fails to complete. -
gdk-usability - e.g. Improvements or suggestions around how the GDK functions. -
gdk-performance - e.g. When a GDK action is slow or times out.
Steps to replicate (optional)
- Run the one-line setup command.
url "https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/-/raw/main/support/install" | bash
- In answer to "where would you like to install", enter a directory beginning with the tilde character, e.g.
~/dev/gdk.
Proposal (optional)
Handle any special path characters (tilde, aliases etc.) appropriately.
Environment (optional)
- Operating system name:
24.5.0 Darwin Kernel Version 24.5.0: Tue Apr 22 19:53:27 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.121.6~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6041 arm64 - Architecture:
arm64 - The contents of your
gdk.yml(if any) - Ruby version:
ruby 2.6.10p210 (2022-04-12 revision 67958) [universal.arm64e-darwin24] - GDK version:
58bc0e56