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.

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.

Appendix: 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)