# Windows MEDIA Protocol — Reproduction & Debugging
> **Source:** conversation about file delivery issues on Windows/Linux (2026-07-15, 2026-07-22)
> **Symptoms:**
> - Windows: "Skipping unsafe MEDIA directive path"
> - Linux/Windows: Chinese filename files fail to download via Markdown links
## Issue 1: Windows Path Format (Path.resolve() Quirk)
### Reproduction Steps
1. File created at `C:\Users\Administrator\markdown-test.md`
2. Sent `MEDIA:/c/Users/Administrator/markdown-test.md` — **rejected**
3. Copied to `/tmp/markdown-test.md`, sent `MEDIA:/tmp/markdown-test.md` — **rejected** (not in cache dir)
4. Copied to `~/.hermes/cache/documents/markdown-test.md`, sent `MEDIA:/c/Users/Administrator/.hermes/cache/documents/markdown-test.md` — **rejected**
5. Finally determined via log inspection that Python's `Path.resolve()` on Windows treats `/c/Users/` as a **relative path** (`\c\Users\...` off C: drive)
### Key Log Output
```
WARNING gateway.platforms.base: Skipping unsafe MEDIA directive path: /c/Users/Administrator/some-file.md
```
### Verification Script
```python
# Run this to check if a path resolves on your Windows machine