NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalArgumentException

Unsupported repository URL: {repo}

Error message

Unsupported repository URL: {repo}

What it means

Thrown by ExecutableRecord.setRepository when the provided repo string parses to a URL that is neither a Ghidra server repository URL (GhidraURL.isServerRepositoryURL) nor a local URL (GhidraURL.isLocalURL). It is an IllegalArgumentException (unchecked), raised from the ExecutableRecord constructor path. Only Ghidra-local or Ghidra-server repository URLs are accepted as a repository origin.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Features/BSim/src/main/java/ghidra/features/bsim/query/description/ExecutableRecord.java:246

		md5sum = calcLibraryMd5Placeholder(enm, arc);
		usercat = null;
		xrefIndex = 0;
	}

	/**
	 * Set the repository and path Strings for an executable, replacing
	 * any previous setting. Truncate any trailing slash.
	 * @param repo is (URL) string indicating which repository contains this executable
	 * @param newpath is the path, relative to the repository, to the executable
	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if invalid repo URL specified
	 */
	protected void setRepository(String repo, String newpath) {
		repository = null;
		if (repo != null) {
			URL ghidraURL = GhidraURL.toURL(repo);
			if (!GhidraURL.isServerRepositoryURL(ghidraURL) &&
				!GhidraURL.isLocalURL(ghidraURL)) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported repository URL: " + repo);
			}
			URL projectURL = GhidraURL.getProjectURL(ghidraURL);
			repository = projectURL.toExternalForm();
		}

		path = newpath;
		if ((path != null) && (path.charAt(path.length() - 1) == '/')) { // No slash at end of path string
			if (path.length() == 1) {
				path = null;
			}
			else {
				path = path.substring(0, path.length() - 1);
			}
		}
		if ((path != null) && (path.charAt(0) == '/')) { // No slash at beginning of path
			if (path.length() == 1) {
				path = null;
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Use a GhidraURL string (as produced by GhidraURL) for the repo parameter, or pass null when no repository applies.
2. Verify GhidraURL.isServerRepositoryURL or GhidraURL.isLocalURL returns true for the candidate URL before constructing the record.
3. Correct the scheme/host/path to match the expected Ghidra repository URL format.

Example fix

// before
man.newExecutableRecord(md5, name, comp, arch, date, "https://myhost/data", path, id);

// after
String repo = GhidraURL.toURL("myserver", "myrepo").toString(); // valid Ghidra URL
man.newExecutableRecord(md5, name, comp, arch, date, repo, path, id);

URL u = GhidraURL.toURL(repo);
if (repo != null && !GhidraURL.isServerRepositoryURL(u) && !GhidraURL.isLocalURL(u)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("repo is not a Ghidra URL: " + repo);
}
man.newExecutableRecord(md5, name, comp, arch, date, repo, path, id);

boolean isSupportedRepoUrl(String repo) {
    if (repo == null) return true;
    URL u = GhidraURL.toURL(repo);
    return GhidraURL.isServerRepositoryURL(u) || GhidraURL.isLocalURL(u);
}

try {
    man.newExecutableRecord(md5, name, comp, arch, date, repo, path, id);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Unsupported repository URL")) {
        man.newExecutableRecord(md5, name, comp, arch, date, null, path, id);
    } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing an ExecutableRecord (via newExecutableRecord / setRepository) with a repo string that is a non-Ghidra URL scheme or an unsupported form (e.g. an arbitrary http path, a bare file path, an ftp URL).

Common situations: Passing a plain web URL or filesystem path instead of a GhidraURL-formatted string; repo string pointing at a Ghidra server but missing the required scheme/format; typo in the repository URL.

Related errors

• Error parsing URL: {message}
• Invalid MD5 hash string: {md5}
• URL path must indicate the repository only
• Bad database URL: ${e.getMessage()}
• Unsupported value: {}

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31d57632bb509ad9. Report an issue: GitHub.