[WSLC] Add --workdir / -w option to 'wslc exec' by ptrivedi · Pull Request #40041 · microsoft/WSL

ptrivedi · 2026-03-30T19:37:17Z

Summary of the Pull Request

Adds --workdir / -w option to wslc exec to set the working directory inside the container
Passes the value through SetContainerOptionsFromArgs into ContainerOptions.WorkingDirectory
Forwards the working directory to the container service via ContainerService::Exec
Validates that the --workdir value is non-empty or all-whitespace using std::iswspace (covers all Unicode whitespace characters)

PR Checklist

Communication: I've discussed this with core contributors already. If work hasn't been agreed, this work might be rejected
Tests: Added/updated if needed and all pass
Localization: All end user facing strings can be localized
Dev docs: Added/updated if needed
Documentation updated: If checked, please file a pull request on our docs repo and link it here: #xxx

Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

Changes:

ArgumentDefinitions.h: register WorkDir argument with long form --workdir and short alias -w (appended at end to preserve sorted order of X-macro list)
ContainerExecCommand.cpp: include WorkDir in the exec command's argument list
ContainerModel.h: add WorkingDirectory field to ContainerOptions
ContainerTasks.cpp: read WorkDir arg and populate options.WorkingDirectory
ContainerService.cpp: pass WorkingDirectory when calling exec on the container
ArgumentValidation.cpp: validate --workdir is non-empty/non-whitespace using std::all_of with std::iswspace (with explicit wint_t cast) to correctly handle all Unicode whitespace, not just space and tab

Tests:

CommandLineTestCases.h: parsing cases for --workdir and -w (valid with option before positional, missing value, invalid specifier after positional)
WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests.cpp: unit tests covering:
- SetContainerOptionsFromArgs sets WorkingDirectory when --workdir is provided
- SetContainerOptionsFromArgs leaves WorkingDirectory empty when not provided
- End-to-end parse of --workdir long option sets WorkingDirectory
- End-to-end parse of -w short alias sets WorkingDirectory
- Empty --workdir value throws ArgumentException
WSLCE2EContainerExecTests.cpp: E2E tests covering:
- Help message includes -w,--workdir
- exec --workdir /tmp <container> pwd prints /tmp
- exec -w /tmp <container> pwd prints /tmp

Validation Steps Performed

Build and run unit tests: bin\<platform>\<target>\test.bat /name:*WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests*
Verify wslc exec --workdir /app <container> pwd prints /app
Verify wslc exec -w /tmp <container> pwd prints /tmp
Verify wslc exec <container> pwd uses the container's default working directory

Adds a --workdir (-w) argument to the exec command that sets the working directory inside the container for the executed process. Wires the value through ContainerOptions into WSLAProcessLauncher::SetWorkingDirectory. Co-authored-by: Pooja Trivedi <trivedipooja@microsoft.com> Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds support for specifying a working directory for wslc exec, wiring a new --workdir/-w CLI argument through argument parsing into ContainerOptions and down to the container exec launcher.

Changes:

Add ArgType::WorkDir (--workdir / -w) and include it in ContainerExecCommand’s supported arguments.
Populate ContainerOptions.WorkingDirectory from parsed args and forward it into WSLCProcessLauncher for container exec.
Add/extend unit tests and command-line parsing test cases for the new option.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
test/windows/wslc/WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests.cpp	Adds unit tests validating `WorkingDirectory` is set/empty appropriately and parsed via `ContainerExecCommand`.
test/windows/wslc/CommandLineTestCases.h	Adds command-line parsing cases covering `--workdir` / `-w` usage and a missing-value case.
src/windows/wslc/tasks/ContainerTasks.cpp	Reads `WorkDir` and sets `ContainerOptions.WorkingDirectory`.
src/windows/wslc/services/ContainerService.cpp	Applies `WorkingDirectory` to the `WSLCProcessLauncher` before launching container exec.
src/windows/wslc/services/ContainerModel.h	Adds `WorkingDirectory` field to `ContainerOptions`.
src/windows/wslc/commands/ContainerExecCommand.cpp	Registers `WorkDir` as an accepted argument for `container exec`.
src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentDefinitions.h	Defines the new `WorkDir` argument (`--workdir` / `-w`).

test/windows/wslc/CommandLineTestCases.h

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

test/windows/wslc/CommandLineTestCases.h

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

AmelBawa-msft

LGTM! I suspect E2E tests will fail because we need to update the expected E2E test help messages. We should consider adding E2E tests as well but possibly in a separate PR since we still have a lot more E2E tests to write 😊

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentDefinitions.h

dkbennett

Looks good, like the setting unit tests. An E2E with working directory would be nice but this looks like we are correctly setting the value in the CLI and passing it into the container runtime. Assuming that has tests this should be good, though it doesn't hurt to have a CLI E2E or two for this.

nit: sort order of _WorkDir as Amir mentioned.

test/windows/wslc/WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests.cpp

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentDefinitions.h

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentDefinitions.h

src/windows/wslc/tasks/ContainerTasks.cpp

test/windows/wslc/WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests.cpp

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

- Port existing exec E2E tests from feature branch - Add WSLCE2E_Container_Exec_WorkDir and WSLCE2E_Container_Exec_WorkDir_ShortAlias tests - Update help message in GetAvailableOptions to include -w,--workdir Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

- Reject empty or whitespace-only --workdir in Argument::Validate - Add ExecCommand_ParseWorkDirEmptyValue_ThrowsArgumentException unit test - Add empty-workdir failing case to CommandLineTestCases.h Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6

Remove tests that duplicate existing coverage in WSLCE2EContainerCreateTests.cpp. Keep only the help message test (validates --workdir appears in output) and the two workdir-specific E2E tests. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentValidation.cpp

ptrivedi · 2026-04-03T20:58:21Z

LGTM! I suspect E2E tests will fail because we need to update the expected E2E test help messages. We should consider adding E2E tests as well but possibly in a separate PR since we still have a lot more E2E tests to write 😊

Added E2E tests. @dkbennett @AmelBawa-msft PTAL and please hit merge if good. thanks!

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentValidation.cpp

…code coverage Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/sessions/b21d1a57-bb3f-4a12-84cf-8e414a453890 Co-authored-by: ptrivedi <1638019+ptrivedi@users.noreply.github.com>

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/sessions/b21d1a57-bb3f-4a12-84cf-8e414a453890 Co-authored-by: ptrivedi <1638019+ptrivedi@users.noreply.github.com>

…crosoft/WSL into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 10 out of 10 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/windows/wslc/arguments/ArgumentDefinitions.h

- Revert Version ArgType alias from NO_ALIAS back to L"v" to preserve existing -v short option - Restore WSLCE2EContainerExecTests.cpp lost in merge conflict resolution Co-Authored-By: Pooja Trivedi

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/windows/wslc/services/ContainerService.cpp

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Pooja Trivedi added 2 commits March 30, 2026 13:41

Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

4a2218d

ptrivedi requested a review from a team as a code owner March 30, 2026 19:37

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dkbennett approved these changes Mar 31, 2026

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Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

53c56a1

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Fix clang formatting issues

ce1e458

ptrivedi force-pushed the user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir branch from 7924dd9 to ce1e458 Compare April 2, 2026 18:32

Update test/windows/wslc/WSLCCLIExecutionUnitTests.cpp

e6b90dd

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 2, 2026 18:35

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Pooja Trivedi and others added 4 commits April 2, 2026 15:00

Fix clang formatting in WSLCE2EContainerExecTests.cpp

d54748e

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Fix clang formatting in CommandLineTestCases.h

6b8fcbc

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6

Trim exec E2E tests to --workdir coverage only

6267e6d

Remove tests that duplicate existing coverage in WSLCE2EContainerCreateTests.cpp. Keep only the help message test (validates --workdir appears in output) and the two workdir-specific E2E tests. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6

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Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

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Missed change from merge conflict resolution

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Copilot started work on behalf of ptrivedi April 3, 2026 21:28 View session

Fix --workdir whitespace validation to use std::iswspace for full Uni…

0979c36

…code coverage Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/sessions/b21d1a57-bb3f-4a12-84cf-8e414a453890 Co-authored-by: ptrivedi <1638019+ptrivedi@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 3, 2026 21:29

ptrivedi review requested due to automatic review settings April 3, 2026 21:29

Use lambda with wint_t cast in iswspace call to avoid potential UB

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Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/sessions/b21d1a57-bb3f-4a12-84cf-8e414a453890 Co-authored-by: ptrivedi <1638019+ptrivedi@users.noreply.github.com>

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ptrivedi review requested due to automatic review settings April 3, 2026 21:33

Copilot finished work on behalf of ptrivedi April 3, 2026 21:33

Pooja Trivedi added 2 commits April 3, 2026 17:39

Missed change from merge conflict resolution

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Merge branch 'user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir' of https://github.com/mi…

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…crosoft/WSL into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

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Pooja Trivedi and others added 2 commits April 4, 2026 01:04

Address Copilot PR feedback

53b0bb9

- Revert Version ArgType alias from NO_ALIAS back to L"v" to preserve existing -v short option - Restore WSLCE2EContainerExecTests.cpp lost in merge conflict resolution Co-Authored-By: Pooja Trivedi

Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/ptrivedi/exec-workingdir

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Update src/windows/wslc/services/ContainerService.cpp

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Summary of the Pull Request

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ptrivedi commented Apr 3, 2026

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ptrivedi commented Mar 30, 2026 •

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