move output dir creation decision to commands

cmd/metrics/metrics.go

@@ -833,13 +833,29 @@ func processRawData(localOutputDir string) error {
 	printOutputFileNames([][]string{filesWritten})
 	return nil
 }
+
+func needsOutputDir(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
+	return !flagLive && !flagPrometheusServer && !cmd.Flags().Changed("prometheus-server-addr") && !flagShowMetricNames
+}
+
 func runCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	// appContext is the application context that holds common data and resources.
 	appContext := cmd.Parent().Context().Value(common.AppContext{}).(common.AppContext)
 	localTempDir := appContext.LocalTempDir
 	localOutputDir := appContext.OutputDir
 	// Setup signal manager for coordinated shutdown
 	signalMgr := newSignalManager()
+	// create output directory if needed
+	if needsOutputDir(cmd) {
+		err := util.CreateDirectoryIfNotExists(localOutputDir, 0755) // #nosec G301
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("failed to create output directory: %w", err)
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: %v\n", err)
+			slog.Error(err.Error())
+			cmd.SilenceUsage = true
+			return err
+		}
+	}
 	// short circuit when --input flag is set
 	if flagInput != "" {
 		// skip data collection and use raw data for reports

cmd/root.go

@@ -211,43 +211,6 @@ func initializeApplication(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if gLogFile != nil {
 		logFilePath = gLogFile.Name()
 	}
-	// create the output directory now to fail fast if there are permission or disk space issues
-	// this validates write access before any data collection begins
-	// skip creating output directory for config command since it doesn't generate output files
-	// also skip for metrics command with --live, --prometheus-server, or --list flags since they don't write files
-	// also skip for update command since it doesn't generate output files
-	needsOutputDir := true
-	if cmd.Name() == "config" || cmd.Name() == "update" {
-		needsOutputDir = false
-	} else if cmd.Name() == "metrics" {
-		// check if --live flag is set
-		if liveFlag, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("live"); err == nil && liveFlag {
-			needsOutputDir = false
-		}
-		// check if --prometheus-server flag is set
-		if prometheusFlag, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("prometheus-server"); err == nil && prometheusFlag {
-			needsOutputDir = false
-		}
-		// check if --prometheus-server-addr flag has been changed (which implies prometheus server mode)
-		if cmd.Flags().Changed("prometheus-server-addr") {
-			needsOutputDir = false
-		}
-		// check if --list flag is set (just lists metrics and exits)
-		if listFlag, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("list"); err == nil && listFlag {
-			needsOutputDir = false
-		}
-	}
-	if needsOutputDir {
-		created, err := createOutputDir(outputDir)
-		if err != nil {
-			slog.Error("failed to create output directory", slog.String("path", outputDir), slog.String("error", err.Error()))
-			fmt.Printf("Error: failed to create output directory: %v\n", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
-		}
-		if created {
-			slog.Debug("output directory created", slog.String("path", outputDir))
-		}
-	}
 	// set app context
 	cmd.Parent().SetContext(
 		context.WithValue(
@@ -350,30 +313,6 @@ func onIntelNetwork() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
-// createOutputDir creates the output directory if it does not exist.
-// Returns true if the directory was created, false if it already existed.
-func createOutputDir(outputDir string) (bool, error) {
-	// Check if directory already exists
-	info, err := os.Stat(outputDir)
-	if err == nil {
-		// Path exists, verify it's a directory
-		if !info.IsDir() {
-			return false, fmt.Errorf("output path exists but is not a directory: %s", outputDir)
-		}
-		return false, nil // Already exists
-	}
-	// If error is not "not exists", something else is wrong
-	if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to check output directory: %w", err)
-	}
-	// Directory doesn't exist, create it
-	err = os.MkdirAll(outputDir, 0755) // #nosec G301
-	if err != nil {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to create output directory: %w", err)
-	}
-	return true, nil // Created successfully
-}
-
 func checkForUpdates(version string) (bool, manifest, error) {
 	latestManifest, err := getLatestManifest()
 	if err != nil {

internal/common/common.go

@@ -125,6 +125,15 @@ func (rc *ReportingCommand) Run() error {
 			slog.Error("error sending signal to children", slog.String("error", err.Error()))
 		}
 	}()
+	// create output directory
+	err := util.CreateDirectoryIfNotExists(outputDir, 0755) // #nosec G301
+	if err != nil {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("failed to create output directory: %w", err)
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: %v\n", err)
+		slog.Error(err.Error())
+		rc.Cmd.SilenceUsage = true
+		return err
+	}
 
 	var orderedTargetScriptOutputs []TargetScriptOutputs
 	var myTargets []target.Target
@@ -206,7 +215,7 @@ func (rc *ReportingCommand) Run() error {
 	}
 	// create the raw report before processing the data, so that we can save the raw data even if there is an error while processing
 	var rawReports []string
-	rawReports, err := rc.createRawReports(appContext, orderedTargetScriptOutputs)
+	rawReports, err = rc.createRawReports(appContext, orderedTargetScriptOutputs)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: %v\n", err)
 		slog.Error(err.Error())