JuliaLang/julia

`EACCES` when checking `islink` for symbolic link on Windows

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#58,870 opened on Jul 1, 2025

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 (3 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Julia (48,709 stars) (5,773 forks)batch import
good first issue

Description

On Windows, when attempting to access CLAUDE.md on master:

julia> islink("CLAUDE.md")
ERROR: IOError: stat("CLAUDE.md"): permission denied (EACCES)

It looks like Windows 10+ supports a form of symbolic links, which Git will use now - unfortunately islink and isfile are unhappy about them.

This causes make check-whitespace to fail on Windows for me.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
None
Domain
backend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Julia programming basicsWindows filesystem permissionsSymbolic link concept
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the implementation of `islink` in Julia's base system, particularly the `stat` call on Windows. The error `EACCES` suggests a permission issue when accessing a symbolic link. Look at `src/stat.c` or Julia's libuv wrappers to see how symbolic links are handled on Windows. Also, check if the `make check whitespace` script needs adjustment, as it uses `islink` and fails on Windows.
`EACCES` when checking `islink` for symbolic link on Windows · JuliaLang/julia#58870 | Good First Issue