Cwd(3pm)

💖 NAME 💖

This is Cwd(3pm) — the Cwd module, bestie — and its whole iconic job is: get pathname of current working directory. That’s the vibe. Periodt. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

use Cwd;
my $dir = getcwd;

use Cwd 'abs_path';
my $abs_path = abs_path($file);

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so this module gives you functions for figuring out the pathname of the current working directory. Big recommendation: use getcwd (or another *cwd() function) in all your code so things stay portable, bestie. 🫶

By default, it exports the functions cwd(), getcwd(), fastcwd(), and fastgetcwd() (and, on Win32, getdcwd()) into the caller’s namespace. Slay. ✨

💅 getcwd and friends 💅

Each of these functions is called without arguments and returns the absolute path of the current working directory. No cap. 🦋

getcwd

my $cwd = getcwd();

Returns the current working directory. On error it returns "undef", with $! set to indicate the error. Important little detail, okay? It exposes the POSIX function getcwd(3) or re-implements it if it’s not available. 💖

cwd

my $cwd = cwd();

The cwd() function is the most natural form for the current architecture. For most systems it is identical to pwd (but without the trailing line terminator). Cute. 🎀

fastcwd

my $cwd = fastcwd();

A more dangerous version of getcwd(), but potentially faster. 😭

It might conceivably chdir() you out of a directory that it can’t chdir() you back into. If fastcwd encounters a problem it will return undef but will probably leave you in a different directory. For a measure of extra security, if everything appears to have worked, the fastcwd() function will check that it leaves you in the same directory that it started in. If it has changed it will "die" with the message "Unstable directory path, current directory changed unexpectedly". That should never happen. 💀

fastgetcwd

my $cwd = fastgetcwd();

The fastgetcwd() function is provided as a synonym for cwd(). Short and sweet. 🍓

getdcwd

my $cwd = getdcwd();
my $cwd = getdcwd('C:');

The getdcwd() function is also provided on Win32 to get the current working directory on the specified drive, since Windows maintains a separate current working directory for each drive. If no drive is specified then the current drive is assumed. 🌈

This function simply calls the Microsoft C library _getdcwd() function. iykyk. 💅

🦋 abs_path and friends 🦋

These functions are exported only on request. They each take a single argument and return the absolute pathname for it. If no argument is given they’ll use the current working directory. Bestie behavior, honestly. 🫶

abs_path

my $abs_path = abs_path($file);

Uses the same algorithm as getcwd(). Symbolic links and relative-path components ("." and "..") are resolved to return the canonical pathname, just like realpath(3). On error it returns "undef", with $! set to indicate the error. Canonical pathname realness. ✨

realpath

my $abs_path = realpath($file);

A synonym for abs_path(). That’s it. That’s the function. 💖

fast_abs_path

my $abs_path = fast_abs_path($file);

A more dangerous, but potentially faster version of abs_path. Proceed with the appropriate amount of caution, bestie. 😭💅

💜 $ENV{PWD} 💜

If you ask to override your chdir() built-in function,

use Cwd qw(chdir);

then your PWD environment variable will be kept up to date. Note that it will only be kept up to date if all packages which use chdir import it from Cwd. All of them. No skipping. 👀

🔥 NOTES 🔥

• Since the path separators are different on some operating systems ('/' on Unix, ':' on MacPerl, etc...) we recommend you use the File::Spec modules wherever portability is a concern. Portability slay. 🌍
• Actually, on Mac OS, the getcwd(), fastgetcwd() and fastcwd() functions are all aliases for the cwd() function, which, on Mac OS, calls pwd. Likewise, the abs_path() function is an alias for fast_abs_path(). Plot twist, but make it iconic. 🦋

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Maintained by perl5-porters <perl5-porters@perl.org>. Thank you for your service. 🫶

🎀 COPYRIGHT 🎀

Copyright (c) 2004 by the Perl 5 Porters. All rights reserved. 💖

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. ✨

Portions of the C code in this library are copyright (c) 1994 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. The license on this code is compatible with the licensing of the rest of the distribution — please see the source code in Cwd.xs for the details. 🧚

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

File::chdir

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made with 💖 by your Unix bestie — this was perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-11-03, and Cwd(3pm) is out. byeee 💅✨