tar_path_target: Identify the file path where the current target will be...

In targets: Dynamic Function-Oriented 'Make'-Like Declarative Pipelines

Identify the file path where the current target will be stored.

Description

Identify the file path where the current target will be stored locally on disk. Designed to be called inside the command of a target currently running in a pipeline. See the "Value" section for specifics because the return value depends on the format and repository settings.

Usage

tar_path_target(
  name = NULL,
  default = NA_character_,
  create_dir = FALSE,
  store = targets::tar_config_get("store")
)

Arguments

name	Symbol, name of a target. If NULL, tar_path_target() returns the path of the target currently running in a pipeline.
default	Character, value to return if tar_path_target() is called on its own outside a targets pipeline. Having a default lets users run things without tar_make(), which helps peel back layers of code and troubleshoot bugs.
create_dir	Logical of length 1, whether to create dirname(tar_path_target()) in tar_path_target() itself. This is useful if you are writing to tar_path_target() from inside a storage = "none" target and need the parent directory of the file to exist.
store	Character of length 1, path to the data store if tar_path_target() is called outside a running pipeline. If tar_path_target() is called inside a running pipeline, this argument is ignored and actual the path to the running pipeline's data store is used instead.

Value

Character string, the file path where the target currently running will be stored. This path is not always known or available in advance, it depends on the format and repository settings.

If format is not "file" and repository is "local" (default) then tar_path_target() returns "STORE/objects/YOUR_TARGET", where STORE is the value of tar_config_get("store") and YOUR_TARGET is the name of your target.

Otherwise, if format is "file", then the return value is NA_character_ because targets does not control where those files are stored.

Otherwise, if format is not "file" and repository is not "local", then tar_path_target() returns the temporary staging path where the data is stored before it is uploaded to a remote repository. Remote repositories vary so widely that the eventual final location cannot always be known, but all remote repositories use staging files that targets knows about.

If not called from inside a running target, tar_path_target(name = your_target) just returns "STORE/objects/your_target".

See Also

Other utilities: tar_active(), tar_backoff(), tar_call(), tar_cancel(), tar_definition(), tar_described_as(), tar_envir(), tar_format_get(), tar_group(), tar_name(), tar_path(), tar_path_script(), tar_path_script_support(), tar_path_store(), tar_source(), tar_store(), tar_unblock_process()

Examples

tar_path_target()
tar_path_target(your_target)
if (identical(Sys.getenv("TAR_EXAMPLES"), "true")) { # for CRAN
tar_dir({ # tar_dir() runs code from a temp dir for CRAN.
tar_script(tar_target(returns_path, tar_path_target()), ask = FALSE)
tar_make()
tar_read(returns_path)
})
}

targets documentation built on Feb. 10, 2026, 1:07 a.m.