A path separator must be exactly one byte, but the given sep

Error message

A path separator must be exactly one byte, but the given separator is {len} bytes: {sep}
In some shells on Windows '/' is automatically expanded. Use '//' instead.

What it means

Error "A path separator must be exactly one byte, but the given separator is {len} bytes: {sep} In some shells on Windows '/' is automatically expanded. Use '//' instead." thrown in BurntSushi/ripgrep.

Source

Thrown at crates/core/flags/defs.rs:5599

Set the path separator to use when printing file paths. This defaults to your
platform's path separator, which is \fB/\fP on Unix and \fB\\\fP on Windows.
This flag is intended for overriding the default when the environment demands
it (e.g., cygwin). A path separator is limited to a single byte.
.sp
Setting this flag to an empty string reverts it to its default behavior. That
is, the path separator is automatically chosen based on the environment.
"
    }

    fn update(&self, v: FlagValue, args: &mut LowArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
        let s = convert::string(v.unwrap_value())?;
        let raw = Vec::unescape_bytes(&s);
        args.path_separator = if raw.is_empty() {
            None
        } else if raw.len() == 1 {
            Some(raw[0])
        } else {
            anyhow::bail!(
                "A path separator must be exactly one byte, but \
                 the given separator is {len} bytes: {sep}\n\
                 In some shells on Windows '/' is automatically \
                 expanded. Use '//' instead.",
                len = raw.len(),
                sep = s,
            )
        };
        Ok(())
    }
}

#[cfg(test)]
#[test]
fn test_path_separator() {
    let args = parse_low_raw(None::<&str>).unwrap();
    assert_eq!(None, args.path_separator);

View on GitHub (pinned to 3fce3b5bb0)

Solutions

Provide a path separator that is exactly one byte
On Windows shells that expand '/', use '//' as the separator instead

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/core/flags/defs.rs:5599 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of BurntSushi/ripgrep@3fce3b5bb0 (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/c63c18d2948ed932.json. Report an issue: GitHub.