gitbutlerapp/gitbutler · error · anyhow::Error

unterminated quoted message

Error message

unterminated quoted message

What it means

Raised by `parse_quoted_string` when the whole message clause is consumed without ever finding a closing double quote. The opening quote was seen, but the string literal never terminates on that line.

Source

Thrown at crates/but-workspace/src/branch/integrate_branch_upstream/parsing.rs:217

        }

        match ch {
            '\\' => escaped = true,
            '"' => {
                let trailing = input[index + ch.len_utf8()..].trim();
                if trailing.is_empty() {
                    return Ok(output);
                }
                bail!("unexpected trailing characters after quoted message");
            }
            other => output.push(other),
        }
    }

    if escaped {
        bail!("unterminated escape sequence in quoted message");
    }
    bail!("unterminated quoted message")
}

fn quote_message(message: &str) -> String {
    let mut out = String::from("\"");
    for ch in message.chars() {
        match ch {
            '\\' => out.push_str("\\\\"),
            '"' => out.push_str("\\\""),
            '\n' => out.push_str("\\n"),
            '\r' => out.push_str("\\r"),
            '\t' => out.push_str("\\t"),
            other => out.push(other),
        }
    }
    out.push('"');
    out
}

View on GitHub (pinned to caf1f223d3)

Solutions

1. Close the string: `| message="finished"`.
2. Escape any inner double quote as `\"` and express newlines as `\n`, not actual line breaks.
3. Regenerate the line with the same rules `quote_message` uses when in doubt.

Example fix

# before
squash 4f2a 991b | message="combine "fixes" and more

# after
squash 4f2a 991b | message="combine \"fixes\" and more"

if let Err(err) = parse_integration_steps_script(&script, &divergence) {
    if err.to_string().contains("unterminated quoted message") {
        // missing close quote or unescaped inner quote; newlines must be literal \n
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Lines like `squash 4f2a 991b | message="unfinished` — missing close quote, possibly because the message itself contains an unescaped `"` that closed it early and left the rest dangling, or the line was cut short.

Common situations: User omits the closing quote; newline intended inside the message must be written as the literal `\n` escape (raw multi-line messages are impossible since the grammar is line-based); unescaped inner quote ends the literal prematurely.

Related errors

• message must start with a double quote
• unsupported escape sequence '\{other}'
• unexpected trailing characters after quoted message
• unterminated escape sequence in quoted message
• line {line_number}: pick does not accept a message clause

AI-assisted analysis of gitbutlerapp/gitbutler@caf1f223d3 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0c171dc109d17186. Report an issue: GitHub.