XAMPPRocky/tokei · error

Excludes provided were invalid

Error message

Excludes provided were invalid

What it means

This panic comes from `overrides.build().expect("Excludes provided were invalid")` in `get_all_files` (src/utils/fs.rs:37). It wraps the `OverrideBuilder::build()` call from the `ignore` crate, which returns `Err` if any glob added via `overrides.add("!<dir>")` is not a syntactically valid glob. The tool cannot construct the directory walker's override set, so it aborts instead of walking with incorrect exclusion rules.

Source

Thrown at src/utils/fs.rs:37

) {
    let languages = parking_lot::Mutex::new(languages);
    let (tx, rx) = crossbeam_channel::unbounded();

    let mut paths = paths.iter();
    let mut walker = WalkBuilder::new(paths.next().unwrap());

    for path in paths {
        walker.add(path);
    }

    if !ignored_directories.is_empty() {
        let mut overrides = OverrideBuilder::new(".");

        for ignored in ignored_directories {
            rs_error!(overrides.add(&format!("!{}", ignored)));
        }

        walker.overrides(overrides.build().expect("Excludes provided were invalid"));
    }

    let ignore = config.no_ignore.map(|b| !b).unwrap_or(true);
    let ignore_dot = ignore && config.no_ignore_dot.map(|b| !b).unwrap_or(true);
    let ignore_vcs = ignore && config.no_ignore_vcs.map(|b| !b).unwrap_or(true);

    // Custom ignore files always work even if the `ignore` option is false,
    // so we only add if that option is not present.
    if ignore_dot {
        walker.add_custom_ignore_filename(IGNORE_FILE);
    }

    walker
        .git_exclude(ignore_vcs)
        .git_global(ignore_vcs)
        .git_ignore(ignore_vcs)
        .hidden(config.hidden.map(|b| !b).unwrap_or(true))
        .ignore(ignore_dot)

View on GitHub (pinned to fa44e51940)

Solutions

1. Fix the ignore entry in the config/CLI argument so it is a valid glob — remove or escape stray metacharacters (`[`, `]`, `{`, `}`), e.g. use `node_modules` or `**/node_modules/**`
2. Test the pattern with a glob matcher (e.g. the `globset` crate or a gitignore checker) before passing it to the tool
3. Simplify the pattern: plain directory names like `target` or `dist` are usually enough; avoid absolute paths and trailing slashes
4. If you maintain the library, replace `.expect` with error propagation so the user's config reports which pattern was invalid instead of panicking

Example fix

// before
ignored_directories = ["node_modules[", "target/"]
// after
ignored_directories = ["node_modules", "target"]

fn is_valid_exclude_pattern(pattern: &str) -> bool {
    // reject unbalanced brackets/braces and absolute paths before adding "!"
    let open = pattern.matches('[').count();
    let close = pattern.matches(']').count();
    let brace_open = pattern.matches('{').count();
    let brace_close = pattern.matches('}').count();
    open == close && brace_open == brace_close
        && !pattern.starts_with('/')
        && !globset::Glob::new(pattern).is_err()
}

let overrides = match overrides_builder.build() {
    Ok(o) => o,
    Err(e) => {
        eprintln!("Invalid exclude pattern in config: {}", e);
        return Err(e);
    }
};
walker.overrides(overrides);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `get_all_files` with an `ignored_directories` entry that produces an invalid glob when prefixed with `!` — e.g. a path containing an unclosed `[`, an invalid `**` placement, or other glob metacharacter mistakes. Note that entries with simple malformed glob syntax can panic here even though each individual `overrides.add` was checked by `rs_error!` earlier (build-time validation can still fail).

Common situations: Users writing exclude patterns copied from .gitignore syntax with unsupported glob features; a config value like `ignored_directories = ["node_modules[", "target/**/"]` with bracket/escape errors; shell-quoting stripping or adding characters so the pattern reaching the builder differs from what the user intended; trailing slashes or absolute paths used where a relative glob is expected.

Related errors

• Couldn't read file

AI-assisted analysis of XAMPPRocky/tokei@fa44e51940 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7967a7bdf70f5d3e. Report an issue: GitHub.