# flwr run . local silently reuses a local SuperLink started from another project, so the ServerApp runs with the old working directory and venv

**URL:** <https://discuss.flower.ai/t/flwr-run-local-silently-reuses-a-local-superlink-started-from-another-project-so-the-serverapp-runs-with-the-old-working-directory-and-venv/1283>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [October 10, 2026, 11:19am UTC](https://discuss.flower.ai/t/flwr-run-local-silently-reuses-a-local-superlink-started-from-another-project-so-the-serverapp-runs-with-the-old-working-directory-and-venv/1283 "2026-10-10T11:19:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sajih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@sajih](https://discuss.flower.ai/u/sajih)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 11:19am UTC](https://discuss.flower.ai/t/flwr-run-local-silently-reuses-a-local-superlink-started-from-another-project-so-the-serverapp-runs-with-the-old-working-directory-and-venv/1283/1 "2026-10-10T11:19:43Z")

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`flwr run .` with the default `local` SuperLink starts a background `flower-superlink` the first time and reuses it on later runs. If that SuperLink was started from a different project, later runs from a new project still go to the old one. As a result:

- The ServerApp’s working directory is the **old** project’s folder, so anything saved with a relative path or `Path.cwd()` (e.g. the `outputs/` folder in the quickstart-pytorch example) goes to the old project.
- The SuperLink and SuperExec processes use the **old** project’s virtualenv (`/old-project/.venv/bin/python`), so the run may use different installed packages.

Nothing warns you about this, so outputs seem to disappear.

**Steps to reproduce**

First make sure that superLink is not running:

1. In project A, with its own venv active, run `flwr run .`. The local SuperLink starts in the background.
2. Copy the app into project B, create a separate venv, and run `flwr run .` from project B.
3. Outputs written with `Path.cwd()` in the ServerApp go to project A’s folder. `ps`/`/proc/<pid>/cwd` shows `flower-superlink` still running from project A’s folder with project A’s venv.

**Environment**

- flwr: 1.39.0
- Python: 3.14.4
- OS: Linux (WSL2), kernel 6.18.40.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
- SuperLink: default `local` (`address = ":local:"` in `~/.flwr/config.toml`), started with `--simulation --isolation subprocess`

**Workaround**  
Kill the stale processes (`pkill -f flower-superlink; pkill -f flower-superexec`) and run `flwr run .` again from the new project.