From a28fc5508d69f21d7f4d1adb6d5964a96165d727 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Valladares <85648028+dreyfus92@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2026 13:33:38 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] fix(prompts): submit initial directory value in path
 prompt

---
 .changeset/tricky-states-tease.md  |  5 +++++
 packages/prompts/src/path.ts       |  9 ++++++++
 packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 49 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/tricky-states-tease.md

diff --git a/.changeset/tricky-states-tease.md b/.changeset/tricky-states-tease.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..03551af9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tricky-states-tease.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@clack/prompts": patch
+---
+
+Fix `path` directory mode so pressing Enter with an existing directory `initialValue` submits that current directory instead of the first child option, and add regression coverage for immediate submit and child-directory navigation.
diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/path.ts b/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
index d575ab33..8c3615ee 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
@@ -39,12 +39,14 @@ export const path = (opts: PathOptions) => {
 
 			try {
 				let searchPath: string;
+				let userInputIsDirectory = false;
 
 				if (!existsSync(userInput)) {
 					searchPath = dirname(userInput);
 				} else {
 					const stat = lstatSync(userInput);
 					if (stat.isDirectory()) {
+						userInputIsDirectory = true;
 						searchPath = userInput;
 					} else {
 						searchPath = dirname(userInput);
@@ -65,6 +67,13 @@ export const path = (opts: PathOptions) => {
 						({ path, isDirectory }) =>
 							path.startsWith(userInput) && (isDirectory || !opts.directory)
 					);
+				if (opts.directory && userInputIsDirectory) {
+					items.unshift({
+						name: userInput,
+						path: userInput,
+						isDirectory: true,
+					});
+				}
 				return items.map((item) => ({
 					value: item.path,
 				}));
diff --git a/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts b/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
index 24f7d76d..86e69e96 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
@@ -163,6 +163,41 @@ describe.each(['true', 'false'])('text (isCI = %s)', (isCI) => {
 		expect(value).toBe('/tmp/foo');
 	});
 
+	test('directory mode submits initial directory value on enter', async () => {
+		const result = prompts.path({
+			message: 'foo',
+			root: '/tmp/',
+			initialValue: '/tmp/',
+			directory: true,
+			input,
+			output,
+		});
+
+		input.emit('keypress', '', { name: 'return' });
+
+		const value = await result;
+
+		expect(value).toBe('/tmp/');
+	});
+
+	test('directory mode can navigate from initial directory to child directory', async () => {
+		const result = prompts.path({
+			message: 'foo',
+			root: '/tmp/',
+			initialValue: '/tmp/',
+			directory: true,
+			input,
+			output,
+		});
+
+		input.emit('keypress', '', { name: 'down' });
+		input.emit('keypress', '', { name: 'return' });
+
+		const value = await result;
+
+		expect(value).toBe('/tmp/foo');
+	});
+
 	test('default mode allows selecting files', async () => {
 		const result = prompts.path({
 			message: 'foo',

From d5f525763bda8044037b8e67cee215e196136e9a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Valladares <85648028+dreyfus92@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2026 17:45:08 -0500
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] refactor(prompts): use parent listing instead of unshift
 for directory path selection

---
 packages/prompts/src/path.ts       | 19 ++++++++-----------
 packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/prompts/src/path.ts b/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
index 8c3615ee..abdf7f26 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/src/path.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export const path = (opts: PathOptions) => {
 		...opts,
 		initialUserInput: opts.initialValue ?? opts.root ?? process.cwd(),
 		maxItems: 5,
+		filter: () => true,
 		validate(value) {
 			if (Array.isArray(value)) {
 				// Shouldn't ever happen since we don't enable `multiple: true`
@@ -39,20 +40,22 @@ export const path = (opts: PathOptions) => {
 
 			try {
 				let searchPath: string;
-				let userInputIsDirectory = false;
 
 				if (!existsSync(userInput)) {
 					searchPath = dirname(userInput);
 				} else {
 					const stat = lstatSync(userInput);
-					if (stat.isDirectory()) {
-						userInputIsDirectory = true;
+					if (stat.isDirectory() && !opts.directory) {
 						searchPath = userInput;
 					} else {
 						searchPath = dirname(userInput);
 					}
 				}
 
+				// Strip trailing slash so startsWith matches the directory itself among its siblings
+				const prefix =
+					userInput.length > 1 && userInput.endsWith('/') ? userInput.slice(0, -1) : userInput;
+
 				const items = readdirSync(searchPath)
 					.map((item) => {
 						const path = join(searchPath, item);
@@ -65,15 +68,9 @@ export const path = (opts: PathOptions) => {
 					})
 					.filter(
 						({ path, isDirectory }) =>
-							path.startsWith(userInput) && (isDirectory || !opts.directory)
+							path.startsWith(prefix) && (isDirectory || !opts.directory)
 					);
-				if (opts.directory && userInputIsDirectory) {
-					items.unshift({
-						name: userInput,
-						path: userInput,
-						isDirectory: true,
-					});
-				}
+
 				return items.map((item) => ({
 					value: item.path,
 				}));
diff --git a/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts b/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
index 86e69e96..90c4ef41 100644
--- a/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
+++ b/packages/prompts/test/path.test.ts
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ describe.each(['true', 'false'])('text (isCI = %s)', (isCI) => {
 
 		const value = await result;
 
-		expect(value).toBe('/tmp/');
+		expect(value).toBe('/tmp');
 	});
 
 	test('directory mode can navigate from initial directory to child directory', async () => {
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ describe.each(['true', 'false'])('text (isCI = %s)', (isCI) => {
 			output,
 		});
 
-		input.emit('keypress', '', { name: 'down' });
+		input.emit('keypress', 'f', { name: 'f' });
 		input.emit('keypress', '', { name: 'return' });
 
 		const value = await result;