{"record":{"id":"f665737f5d3a3907","repo":"helix-editor/helix","slug":"failed-to-compile-regex-f66573","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Failed to compile regex","messagePattern":"Failed to compile regex","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"warning","filePath":"helix-term/src/commands/syntax.rs","lineNumber":344,"sourceCode":"                }\n            }\n        }\n        if !state.search_root.exists() {\n            return async { Err(anyhow::anyhow!(\"Current working directory does not exist\")) }\n                .boxed();\n        }\n        let matcher = match state.regex_matcher_builder.build(query) {\n            Ok(matcher) => {\n                // Clear any \"Failed to compile regex\" errors out of the statusline.\n                editor.clear_status();\n                matcher\n            }\n            Err(err) => {\n                log::info!(\n                    \"Failed to compile search pattern in workspace symbol search: {}\",\n                    err\n                );\n                return async { Err(anyhow::anyhow!(\"Failed to compile regex\")) }.boxed();\n            }\n        };\n        let pattern = Arc::new(pattern);\n        let injector = injector.clone();\n        let loader = editor.syn_loader.load();\n\n        let documents: HashSet<_> = editor\n            .documents()\n            .filter_map(Document::path)\n            .map(ToOwned::to_owned)\n            .collect();\n\n        async move {\n            let searcher = state.searcher_builder.build();\n            state.walk_builder.build_parallel().run(|| {\n                let mut searcher = searcher.clone();\n                let matcher = matcher.clone();\n                let injector = injector.clone();","sourceCodeStart":326,"sourceCodeEnd":362,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/079a789e8cb08ead67f19e1971a1b7438b37354b/helix-term/src/commands/syntax.rs#L326-L362","documentation":"The workspace symbol picker builds a matcher from the typed pattern via state.regex_matcher_builder (the regex crate). Patterns that are not valid regex — unbalanced groups, dangling quantifiers, unsupported look-around — abort the search with 'Failed to compile regex'; the underlying compile error is logged at info level, and a later successful compile clears the stale statusline error.","triggerScenarios":"Typing '(', '(?<=x)', '*sym', or '[a-' into the workspace symbol prompt while it dynamically re-filters.","commonSituations":"Symbol names containing regex metacharacters (generics like 'Vec<T>', 'operator()'); PCRE-style look-around habits; mid-typing states.","solutions":["Escape metacharacters: 'Vec\\<T\\>', 'operator\\(\\)'.","Remove unsupported constructs (look-around, backreferences) — regex cannot compile them.","Type a simpler metacharacter-free prefix first, then refine."],"exampleFix":"# before\nVec<T>\n# after\nVec\\<T\\>","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"if regex::Regex::new(pattern).is_ok() {\n    // safe to submit to the workspace symbol prompt\n}","typeGuard":"fn is_valid_symbol_regex(p: &str) -> bool {\n    regex::Regex::new(p).is_ok()\n}","tryCatchPattern":null,"preventionTips":["Escape <, >, (, ) when searching generic symbols; the prompt is a regex.","Type plain prefixes first and add structure only after the query compiles."],"tags":["regex","symbol-search","user-input"],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"079a789e8cb08ead67f19e1971a1b7438b37354b","analyzedAt":"2026-08-16T09:09:59.668Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-16T13:17:31.715Z"}