# Permission error when starting a LableStudio space

**URL:** </static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%3E%5C
**Category:** Beginners\
**Created:** [September 28, 2025, 1:03am UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735 "2025-09-28T01:03:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cylin577](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@cylin577](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2Fcylin577)%5C
**Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 1:03am UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%2F1 "2025-09-28T01:03:19Z")

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It says

```auto
Exit code: 1. Reason: => Database and media directory: /label-studio/data
=> Static URL is set to: /static/
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/label-studio/.venv/bin/label-studio", line 3, in <module>
    from label_studio.server import main
  File "/label-studio/label_studio/server.py", line 23, in <module>
    from label_studio.core.argparser import parse_input_args
  File "/label-studio/label_studio/core/argparser.py", line 5, in <module>
    from .settings.base import EXPORT_DIR
  File "/label-studio/label_studio/core/settings/base.py", line 470, in <module>
    os.makedirs(MEDIA_ROOT, exist_ok=True)
  File "<frozen os>", line 225, in makedirs
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/label-studio/data/media'

```

When starting up

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![John6666](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/hellohellohello/user_avatar/discuss.huggingface.co/john6666/32/27664_2.png) [@John6666](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2FJohn6666)%5C
**Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 3:39am UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%2F2 "2025-09-28T03:39:16Z")

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[The cause is attempting to write to a directory that is not writable due to permissions](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermissionerror-errno-13-permission-denied-cache%2F146951%2F5). [Setting the following environment variable](https://labelstud.io/guide/start) would resolve this.  
`LABEL_STUDIO_BASE_DATA_DIR=/tmp/label-studio`  
Any directory with write permissions will work.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JamesDavids](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/hellohellohello/user_avatar/discuss.huggingface.co/jamesdavids/32/54347_2.png) [@JamesDavids](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2FJamesDavids)%5C
**Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 8:09am UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%2F3 "2025-09-28T08:09:39Z")

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That error is pretty straightforward — **Label Studio is trying to create its `media` folder but doesn’t have permission.**

Here’s how to fix it:

1. **Check who owns the folder**

2. **Give yourself permission**

3. **Set writable permissions** (if quick and dirty):

4. **If Dockerized** :

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cylin577](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@cylin577](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2Fcylin577)%5C
**Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 10:36am UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%2F4 "2025-09-28T10:36:56Z")

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Thanks! It worked!

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/hellohellohello/original/2X/d/de4155eb4aa4108ecb32a1389d7cc37ae69f88b7.png) [@system](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Fu%2Fsystem)%5C
**Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](/static-proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscuss.huggingface.co%2Ft%2Fpermission-error-when-starting-a-lablestudio-space%2F168735%2F5 "2025-09-28T22:37:38Z")

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Closed on September 28, 2025, 10:37pm UTC

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