brew-cask: : unsupported glob outside staged_path

Error message

brew-cask:{}: unsupported {kind} {field} glob outside staged_path {}

What it means

For permission flight paths whose base is "appdir", glob patterns are not allowed — globs are only meaningful relative to the staged_path, where the cask's extracted content lives. When a cask declares an appdir-based path containing glob characters, this error aborts parsing because matching against the /Applications directory with a wildcard is unsupported.

Solutions

Change the path to a concrete appdir entry (no glob characters), or switch base back to "staged_path" if a glob is actually needed
Fix the cask definition in the upstream tap
Enumerate the specific target paths instead of using a wildcard

Example fix

// before
{ "type": "permissions", "base": "appdir", "path": "*.app" }
// after
{ "type": "permissions", "base": "staged_path", "path": "Foo.app/**" }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Reject globs with appdir base before installing
let is_glob = |p: &str| p.contains('*') || p.contains('?') || p.contains('[');
if base == "appdir" && is_glob(path) {
    eprintln!("appdir-based permission paths cannot use globs");
}

Prevention

Use globs only with base "staged_path"
Enumerate concrete appdir entries instead of wildcards
Review cask stanzas for glob characters when migrating between bases

When it happens

Trigger: parse_permissions_flight_path sees `base == FlightPathBase::AppDir` and `is_flight_glob(path)` is true — e.g. {"base": "appdir", "path": "*.app"}.

Common situations: A tap cask tries to express 'match any app in Applications' via a glob with base appdir; cask authors migrating stanzas from staged_path to appdir without removing glob syntax.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fe66426986331b33. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/system/packages/brew/cask/artifacts.rs:1174

            "brew-cask:{}: unsupported {kind} {field} base {}",
            cask.token,
            base
        ),
        None => bail!("brew-cask:{}: unsupported {kind} {field} base", cask.token),
    };
    let path = object
        .get("path")
        .and_then(Value::as_str)
        .ok_or_else(|| eyre!("brew-cask:{}: unsupported {kind} {field} path", cask.token))?;
    if validate_flight_relative_path(path).is_err() {
        bail!(
            "brew-cask:{}: invalid {kind} {field} path {}",
            cask.token,
            path
        )
    }
    if base == FlightPathBase::AppDir && is_flight_glob(path) {
        bail!(
            "brew-cask:{}: unsupported {kind} {field} glob outside staged_path {}",
            cask.token,
            path
        )
    }
    Ok(FlightPath {
        base,
        path: path.to_string(),
    })
}

pub(super) fn collect_pkg_receipt_ids(value: &Value, pkg_ids: &mut Vec<String>) {
    let Some(object) = value.as_object() else {
        return;
    };
    let Some(metadata) = object.get("uninstall") else {
        return;
    };

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)