What causes "Invalid {name} glob pattern: {pat}, error = {e}" in getzola/zola?

Fix the glob pattern named in the error to valid globset syntax

Invalid {name} glob pattern: {pat}, error = {e}

Error message

Invalid {name} glob pattern: {pat}, error = {e}

What it means

`build_ignore_glob_set` builds a `GlobSet` from user-supplied glob patterns. Each pattern is compiled with `Glob::new`; on failure it bails with the pattern and the underlying globset error. Malformed globs (unbalanced brackets, invalid syntax) cannot be compiled.

Source

Thrown at components/utils/src/globs.rs:15

use globset::{Glob, GlobSet, GlobSetBuilder};

use errors::{Result, bail};

pub fn build_ignore_glob_set(ignore: &Vec<String>, name: &str) -> Result<GlobSet> {
    // Convert the file glob strings into a compiled glob set matcher. We want to do this once,
    // at program initialization, rather than for every page, for example. We arrange for the
    // globset matcher to always exist (even though it has to be inside an Option at the
    // moment because of the TOML serializer); if the glob set is empty the `is_match` function
    // of the globber always returns false.
    let mut glob_set_builder = GlobSetBuilder::new();
    for pat in ignore {
        let glob = match Glob::new(pat) {
            Ok(g) => g,
            Err(e) => bail!("Invalid {name} glob pattern: {pat}, error = {e}"),
        };
        glob_set_builder.add(glob);
    }
    Ok(glob_set_builder.build()?)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 61d3082821)

Solutions

Fix the glob pattern named in the error to valid globset syntax
Test the pattern syntax (e.g. balanced `[]`, `{}`, `*`/`**` usage)
Simplify to a plain filename or prefix pattern if advanced syntax isn't needed

Example fix

// before
ignored_content = ["**["]
// after
ignored_content = ["**/drafts/**"]

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn globs_valid(pats: &[String]) -> bool {
    pats.iter().all(|p| globset::Glob::new(p).is_ok())
}

Try / catch

match build_ignore_glob_set(&pats, "ignored_content") {
    Ok(gs) => use(gs),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Invalid") && e.to_string().contains("glob pattern") => {
        eprintln!("check the pattern named in: {e}");
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

Prevention

Validate glob syntax in CI before building
Prefer simple patterns (literal names, ** suffixes) over exotic syntax
Remember globset syntax differs from shell globs (no extglob)

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an invalid glob string to the ignored-files/ignored-content configuration (e.g. `[extra]` or `[build]` ignore settings) such as `"**["` or an unclosed `{}`, parsed via `parse`/`resolve_globset`.

Common situations: Typos in config.toml glob patterns; copying shell-style globs unsupported by the globset syntax; quotes/escaping issues in TOML.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of getzola/zola@61d3082821 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/03b7ce1a2a5a8bfd. Report an issue: GitHub.