can1357/oh-my-pi · error · Error

Invalid alias "${aliasName}". Refusing to create a ${shell}

Error message

Invalid alias "${aliasName}". Refusing to create a ${shell} reserved word.

What it means

validateAliasName rejects alias names that collide with reserved words of the target shell (e.g. `if`, `else`, `function`, PowerShell cmdlet keywords). Installing such an alias would produce a shell profile that fails to parse or silently breaks shell semantics. The reserved set is shell-specific via getReservedAliasNames(shell).

Source

Thrown at packages/coding-agent/src/cli/profile-alias.ts:161

			return POSIX_RESERVED_ALIAS_NAMES;
		case "fish":
			return FISH_RESERVED_ALIAS_NAMES;
		case "powershell":
		case "pwsh":
			return POWERSHELL_RESERVED_ALIAS_NAMES;
	}
}

function validateAliasName(aliasName: string, shell: ProfileAliasShell): string {
	const normalized = aliasName.trim();
	if (!ALIAS_NAME_RE.test(normalized)) {
		throw new Error(`Invalid alias "${aliasName}". Alias names must match ${ALIAS_NAME_RE.source}.`);
	}
	if (normalized.toLowerCase() === "omp") {
		throw new Error('Invalid alias "omp". Refusing to shadow the base omp command.');
	}
	if (getReservedAliasNames(shell).has(normalized.toLowerCase())) {
		throw new Error(`Invalid alias "${aliasName}". Refusing to create a ${shell} reserved word.`);
	}
	return normalized;
}

// On Windows the launching shell is rarely exported through $SHELL, so when it
// is missing we infer the PowerShell edition from the inherited environment.
// PowerShell 7 (pwsh) always seeds PSModulePath with separator-delimited
// ".../PowerShell/..." module directories (plus the Windows PowerShell ones for
// back-compat), whereas Windows PowerShell 5.1 only ever lists
// ".../WindowsPowerShell/...". The separator anchors keep "WindowsPowerShell"
// from matching. POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL is set only by some pwsh
// distributions, so it stays a secondary hint rather than the primary signal.
function detectWindowsPowerShell(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): ProfileAliasShell {
	const modulePath = env.PSModulePath ?? env.PSMODULEPATH ?? env.psmodulepath ?? "";
	if (/[\\/]PowerShell[\\/]/i.test(modulePath)) return "pwsh";
	if (env.POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL) return "pwsh";
	return "powershell";
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 9690622007)

Solutions

Pick a non-reserved alias name, e.g. append a suffix like `-cmd` (`--alias for-cmd`)
Verify the name against your shell's reserved words before running the command
If a script generates names, filter them against getReservedAliasNames for the target shell first

Example fix

// before
omp --profile work --alias for
// after
omp --profile work --alias for-work

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import { getReservedAliasNames } from "./profile-alias"; // or replicate the check
const name = aliasName.trim();
if (getReservedAliasNames("bash").has(name.toLowerCase())) throw new Error(`"${aliasName}" is a shell reserved word`);

Type guard

function isReservedWord(name: string, shell: string, reserved: Set<string>): boolean {
  return reserved.has(name.trim().toLowerCase());
}

Try / catch

try {
  await installProfileAlias({ profile, aliasName });
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.includes('reserved word')) {
    console.error(`Pick a name that is not a ${shell} reserved word.`);
    return;
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Check candidate names against your shell's keyword list (bash/zsh keywords, PowerShell cmdlet/keyword names) before installing
Avoid one- and two-letter generic names that commonly collide (for, if, do, in)
When generating names programmatically, append a suffix like "-cmd" to guarantee non-reserved identifiers

When it happens

Trigger: Running `omp --alias <reservedWord>` where the (lowercased) name is in getReservedAliasNames(shell) for the detected shell — e.g. `--alias for` under bash/zsh or `--alias if` under PowerShell.

Common situations: Choosing short convenient names like `for`, `do`, `in`, or `switch` that happen to be shell keywords; scripts generating aliases from user input without pre-checking.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of can1357/oh-my-pi@9690622007 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b4692abb22a098ce. Report an issue: GitHub.