golang/go · error

invalid quoted string in //go:embed: %s

Error message

invalid quoted string in //go:embed: %s

What it means

Returned by the //go:embed pattern parser when a backtick-quoted pattern is opened but never closed. The parser finds the opening backtick, searches args[1:] for a matching backtick, and if none is found treats the rest of the line as an invalid quoted string.

Source

Thrown at src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/noder.go:412

	for args = strings.TrimSpace(args); args != ""; args = strings.TrimSpace(args) {
		var path string
	Switch:
		switch args[0] {
		default:
			i := len(args)
			for j, c := range args {
				if unicode.IsSpace(c) {
					i = j
					break
				}
			}
			path = args[:i]
			args = args[i:]

		case '`':
			i := strings.Index(args[1:], "`")
			if i < 0 {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid quoted string in //go:embed: %s", args)
			}
			path = args[1 : 1+i]
			args = args[1+i+1:]

		case '"':
			i := 1
			for ; i < len(args); i++ {
				if args[i] == '\\' {
					i++
					continue
				}
				if args[i] == '"' {
					q, err := strconv.Unquote(args[:i+1])
					if err != nil {
						return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid quoted string in //go:embed: %s", args[:i+1])
					}
					path = q
					args = args[i+1:]

View on GitHub (pinned to b6b368adc5)

Solutions

1. Add the closing backtick to the pattern: //go:embed `pattern`.
2. Prefer unquoted patterns (//go:embed pattern) unless the path contains spaces, in which case use backtick-quoted segments and close both ends.
3. Run gofmt which will surface the malformed directive at edit time.

Example fix

// before
 //go:embed `assets/*.html
 // after
 //go:embed `assets/*.html`

// Validate backtick-quoted //go:embed patterns before compiling.
for _, p := range strings.Split(line, "`") {
    _ = p
}
if open := strings.Count(rest, "`"); open%2 != 0 {
    return fmt.Errorf("unbalanced backticks in //go:embed")
}

When it happens

Trigger: A //go:embed directive contains a backtick-quoted pattern with no closing backtick, e.g. //go:embed `pattern. The strings.Index for the closing backtick returns -1 (i<0) and the error reports the entire remaining args.

Common situations: Hand-editing //go:embed directives and forgetting the closing backtick; copy-paste truncating the line; an editor autocompleting only the opening backtick.

Related errors

• go:embed requires go1.16 or later (-lang was set to %s; chec
• not a regular file
• file changed between reads
• file too large (%d bytes > %d bytes)
• go:embed requires import "embed" (or import _ "embed", if pa

AI-assisted analysis of golang/go@b6b368adc5 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7e019ffc3325630. Report an issue: GitHub.