denisidoro/navi · error · anyhow

No value provided for the flag `{}`

Error message

No value provided for the flag `{}`

What it means

Thrown by `parse_opts` in src/parser.rs when an option flag appears as a chunk with no paired value. Options are split into (flag, value) pairs of 2; a lone flag that expects a value yields a 1-element chunk and produces this error, wrapped with the context "Failed to parse finder options".

Source

Thrown at src/parser.rs:70

                        opts.column = Some(
                            value
                                .parse::<u8>()
                                .context("Value for `--column` is invalid u8")?,
                        )
                    }
                    "--map" => opts.map = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--delimiter" => opts.delimiter = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--query" => opts.query = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--filter" => opts.filter = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--preview" => opts.preview = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--preview-window" => opts.preview_window = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--header" => opts.header = Some(value.to_string()),
                    "--fzf-overrides" => opts.overrides = Some(value.to_string()),
                    _ => (),
                }
                Ok(())
            } else if let [flag] = flag_and_value {
                Err(anyhow!("No value provided for the flag `{}`", flag))
            } else {
                unreachable!() // Chunking by 2 allows only for tuples of 1 or 2 items...
            }
        })
        .context("Failed to parse finder options")?;

    let suggestion_type = match (multi, prevent_extra) {
        (true, _) => SuggestionType::MultipleSelections, // multi wins over prevent-extra
        (false, false) => SuggestionType::SingleRecommendation,
        (false, true) => SuggestionType::SingleSelection,
    };
    opts.suggestion_type = suggestion_type;

    Ok(opts)
}

fn parse_variable_line(line: &str) -> Result<(&str, &str, Option<FinderOpts>)> {
    let caps = VAR_LINE_REGEX

View on GitHub (pinned to f7330b9ad5)

Solutions

1. Provide the missing value after the flag, e.g. `--prompt "Select:"`
2. Remove the dangling flag entirely if the option is not needed
3. Check the config line for accidental line breaks or truncation that dropped the value
4. Use `--fzf-overrides` quoting correctly so the flag and its value stay paired

Example fix

// before
my-var: cat file.txt --- --prompt
// after
my-var: cat file.txt --- --prompt "Select a file:"

fn every_flag_has_value(opts: &str) -> bool {
    let toks: Vec<&str> = opts.split_whitespace().collect();
    toks.iter().enumerate().all(|(i, t)| {
        !(t.starts_with("--") && *t != "--header" && *t != "--prompt"
            && *t != "--fzf-overrides"
            && t.starts_with("--header")
            || t.starts_with("--") && (t == &"--header" || t == &"--prompt" || t == &"--fzf-overrides")
                && toks.get(i + 1).map_or(true, |v| v.starts_with("--")))
    })
}
// simpler: grep the options string for a flag at the end: opts.trim_end().ends_with(any value-taking flag)

When it happens

Trigger: A finder options string containing a value-taking flag like `--header`, `--prompt`, or `--fzf-overrides` with nothing after it, e.g. `--- --prompt` or trailing whitespace stripping away the value.

Common situations: Deleting an option's value while editing a config but leaving the flag; line breaks in a config file dropping the value; typos where the value was written as a separate option.

Related errors

• Given options are missing a closing quote
• No variables, command, and options found in the line `{}`
• No variable captured in the line `{}`
• No command and options captured in the line `{}`
• No command captured in the line `{}`

AI-assisted analysis of denisidoro/navi@f7330b9ad5 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/297f57e30612cf65. Report an issue: GitHub.