--config-file pointing to a non-existent file

[GeorgeMitrakis]

Hi all !

This is my first post here. I hope everyone is healthy and safe.

I have noticed something regarding the --config-file cli option.
If I set to it a non-existent file as a value, it creates it with an empty json object. For example:
$ npx cypress open --config-file nonexistent.json
creates the nonexistent.json file with { } in it, if it doesn't exist.

When something like this: './nonexistent.json' is passed as a value, a '. directory is created, and under it, a nonexistent.json' file.
The '. directory cannot be deleted directly from the filesystem (Windows).

Is this the desired behavior?
I find it a little weird.

Thanks in advance.

[jennifer-shehane]

No, this is not the intended behavior, sounds like a bug. It should error if the config file is not found, we have code around this. https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress/blob/develop/packages/server/lib/errors.js#L677:L677

It may be something specific to windows. We'd be open to an issue/PR to fix this.