diff --git a/lua/avante/file_selector.lua b/lua/avante/file_selector.lua
index 6a3a476..c5241d6 100644
--- a/lua/avante/file_selector.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/file_selector.lua
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ function FileSelector:add_selected_file(filepath)
   if not filepath or filepath == "" then return end
 
   local uniform_path = Utils.uniform_path(filepath)
+
   -- Avoid duplicates
   if not vim.tbl_contains(self.selected_filepaths, uniform_path) then
     table.insert(self.selected_filepaths, uniform_path)
@@ -273,11 +274,16 @@ end
 function FileSelector:get_selected_files_contents()
   local contents = {}
   for _, file_path in ipairs(self.selected_filepaths) do
-    local file = io.open(file_path, "r")
+    local file, open_err = io.open(file_path, "r")
+
+    if open_err then Utils.debug("error reading file:", open_err) end
+
     if file then
-      local content = file:read("*all")
+      local content, read_err = file:read("*all")
       file:close()
 
+      if read_err then Utils.debug("failed to read:", file_path, read_err) end
+
       -- Detect the file type
       local filetype = vim.filetype.match({ filename = file_path, contents = contents }) or "unknown"
 
diff --git a/lua/avante/sidebar.lua b/lua/avante/sidebar.lua
index 1b55ecb..cfbd71f 100644
--- a/lua/avante/sidebar.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/sidebar.lua
@@ -1148,8 +1148,13 @@ function Sidebar:initialize()
 
   if not self.code.bufnr or not api.nvim_buf_is_valid(self.code.bufnr) then return self end
 
+  local buf_path = api.nvim_buf_get_name(self.code.bufnr)
+  -- if the filepath is outside of the current working directory then we want the absolute path
+  local file_path = Utils.file.is_in_cwd(buf_path) and Utils.relative_path(buf_path) or buf_path
+  Utils.debug("Sidebar:initialize adding buffer to file selector", buf_path)
+
   self.file_selector:reset()
-  self.file_selector:add_selected_file(Utils.relative_path(api.nvim_buf_get_name(self.code.bufnr)))
+  self.file_selector:add_selected_file(file_path)
 
   return self
 end
diff --git a/lua/avante/utils/file.lua b/lua/avante/utils/file.lua
index 30df171..93fe275 100644
--- a/lua/avante/utils/file.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/utils/file.lua
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ function M.exists(filepath)
   return stat ~= nil
 end
 
+function M.is_in_cwd(filepath)
+  local cwd = vim.fn.getcwd()
+  -- Make both paths absolute for comparison
+  local abs_filepath = vim.fn.fnamemodify(filepath, ":p")
+  local abs_cwd = vim.fn.fnamemodify(cwd, ":p")
+  -- Check if filepath starts with cwd
+  return abs_filepath:sub(1, #abs_cwd) == abs_cwd
+end
+
 function M.get_file_icon(filepath)
   local filetype = Filetype.detect(filepath, {}) or "unknown"
   ---@type string
diff --git a/lua/avante/utils/init.lua b/lua/avante/utils/init.lua
index a5ec394..80cded3 100644
--- a/lua/avante/utils/init.lua
+++ b/lua/avante/utils/init.lua
@@ -826,6 +826,7 @@ function M.get_current_selection_diagnostics(bufnr, selection)
 end
 
 function M.uniform_path(path)
+  if not M.file.is_in_cwd(path) then return path end
   local project_root = M.get_project_root()
   local abs_path = Path:new(project_root):joinpath(path):absolute()
   local relative_path = Path:new(abs_path):make_relative(project_root)