JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh · error

invalid export format

Error message

invalid export format

What it means

The `oh-my-posh config export` command was invoked with a `--format` value the exporter does not recognize. The CLI switches on the format string and the `default:` branch rejects anything outside the supported set (json, jsonc, toml, tml, yaml, yml). The command prints the accepted list to stdout and exits with status code 2 before any export happens.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/config_export.go:67

		setConfigFlag()

		cfg := config.Load(configFlag)

		validateExportFormat := func() error {
			format = strings.ToLower(format)
			switch format {
			case config.JSON, config.JSONC:
				format = config.JSON
			case config.TOML, config.TML:
				format = config.TOML
			case config.YAML, config.YML:
				format = config.YAML
			default:
				formats := []string{config.JSON, config.JSONC, config.TOML, config.TML, config.YAML, config.YML}
				// usage error
				fmt.Printf("export format must be one of these: %s\n", strings.Join(formats, ", "))
				exitcode = 2
				return errors.New("invalid export format")
			}

			return nil
		}

		if len(format) != 0 {
			if err := validateExportFormat(); err != nil {
				return
			}
		}

		if output == "" {
			fmt.Print(cfg.Export(format))
			return
		}

		cfg.Source = cleanOutputPath(output)

View on GitHub (pinned to 0976794618)

Solutions

1. Use one of the exact accepted values: json, jsonc, toml, tml, yaml, yml.
2. Trim whitespace and match casing exactly as printed in the usage message (the error prints the full list).
3. Check the spelling of the flag value — 'yam', 'jsn', etc. all land in the default branch.
4. If scripting, validate the format value against the list before invoking the CLI so you get a clean failure.

Example fix

// before
oh-my-posh config export --format json5 -o theme.json5
// after
oh-my-posh config export --format jsonc -o theme.jsonc

var validFormats = map[string]bool{"json": true, "jsonc": true, "toml": true, "tml": true, "yaml": true, "yml": true}
if !validFormats[strings.TrimSpace(format)] {
    return fmt.Errorf("unsupported format %q; use json, jsonc, toml, tml, yaml, or yml", format)
}

if err := exportConfig(format, out); err != nil {
    if err.Error() == "invalid export format" {
        fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "usage: --format json|jsonc|toml|tml|yaml|yml")
        os.Exit(2)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `oh-my-posh config export --format <value>` (or the equivalent `GetExport` flow) where format is not exactly one of config.JSON, JSONC, TOML, TML, YAML, YML — e.g. `--format yml ` with stray whitespace, `--format json5`, `--format YAML` if the comparison is case-sensitive, or a typo like `--format yam`.

Common situations: Users copying an example that uses an unsupported extension (`.ini`, `.json5`); scripting the flag from a config file extension that isn't mapped; passing uppercase or whitespace-padded values; confusing the export format with the config *read* format set.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• --data-only and --data-derive contradict each other: one for
• font path must be a valid URL
• no assets found
• we do not have permissions to update
• unclosed section:

AI-assisted analysis of JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh@0976794618 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/263ece6cd5c8f296. Report an issue: GitHub.