go-delve/delve · error

too many arguments to "config substitute-path"

Error message

too many arguments to "config substitute-path"

What it means

This error is thrown by Delve's terminal configuration handler when the `config substitute-path` command is given more than two whitespace-separated arguments. The command only supports: no arguments (list rules), one argument (delete the rule whose From matches), or two arguments (add/update a From→To mapping). Anything else falls into the `default` branch of the length switch in configureSetSubstitutePath.

Source

Thrown at pkg/terminal/config.go:121

	case 1: // delete substitute-path rule
		for i := range t.conf.SubstitutePath {
			if t.conf.SubstitutePath[i].From == argv[0] {
				copy(t.conf.SubstitutePath[i:], t.conf.SubstitutePath[i+1:])
				t.conf.SubstitutePath = t.conf.SubstitutePath[:len(t.conf.SubstitutePath)-1]
				return nil
			}
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("could not find rule for %q", argv[0])
	case 2: // add substitute-path rule
		for i := range t.conf.SubstitutePath {
			if t.conf.SubstitutePath[i].From == argv[0] {
				t.conf.SubstitutePath[i].To = argv[1]
				return nil
			}
		}
		t.conf.SubstitutePath = append(t.conf.SubstitutePath, config.SubstitutePathRule{From: argv[0], To: argv[1]})
	default:
		return errors.New("too many arguments to \"config substitute-path\"")
	}
	return nil
}

func configureSetAlias(t *Term, rest string) error {
	argv := config.SplitQuotedFields(rest, '"')
	switch len(argv) {
	case 1: // delete alias rule
		for k := range t.conf.Aliases {
			v := t.conf.Aliases[k]
			for i := range v {
				if v[i] == argv[0] {
					copy(v[i:], v[i+1:])
					t.conf.Aliases[k] = v[:len(v)-1]
				}
			}
		}
	case 2: // add alias rule

View on GitHub (pinned to a23773e6c3)

Solutions

1. Split multiple mappings into separate commands: `config substitute-path /from /to` then `config substitute-path /from2 /to2`.
2. Quote paths containing spaces: `config substitute-path "/my from" "/my to"` so SplitQuotedFields counts exactly two tokens.
3. Run `config substitute-path` with no arguments to list current rules and confirm syntax before modifying.

Example fix

// before
dlv: config substitute-path /old/path /new/path /old/path2 /new/path2
// after
dlv: config substitute-path /old/path /new/path
dlv: config substitute-path /old/path2 /new/path2

parts := config.SplitQuotedFields(rest, '"')
if len(parts) > 2 {
    return fmt.Errorf("substitute-path takes at most 2 args, got %d", len(parts))
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `config substitute-path A B C` (three or more arguments) in the Delve CLI, e.g. trying to add multiple mappings in a single command or accidentally leaving an extra token such as a trailing quoted path or a stray character in the rest string.

Common situations: Users paste multi-rule mappings from docs or scripts as one command; shell-style multi-assignment habits (`from to from2 to2`) carried over from other tools; quoting mistakes in paths with spaces causing SplitQuotedFields to produce extra tokens.

Related errors

• not enough arguments to "config debug-info-directories"
• wrong argument to "config debug-info-directories"
• command not available
• you must specify a thread
• too many arguments to goroutine

AI-assisted analysis of go-delve/delve@a23773e6c3 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/50bac5744331e72e. Report an issue: GitHub.