jdx/mise · error · RuntimeError

command failed: #{pretty}

Error message

command failed: #{pretty}

What it means

The shim overrides Kernel#system so formula scripts get ohai logging and fail-fast semantics. It raises when the invoked command exits non-zero, halting the formula's install at the first failing command with the full command line in the message.

Source

Thrown at src/system/packages/brew/shim.rb:745

  def deps = []
  def declared_deps = []

  def resource(name)
    res = self.class.resources.fetch(name) { raise "undefined resource #{name.inspect}" }
    res.owner = self
    res
  end

  def resources = self.class.resources.values.each { |r| r.owner = self }

  # ---- build helpers ----
  def system(cmd, *args)
    args = args.map(&:to_s)
    pretty = ([cmd] + args).join(" ")
    ohai pretty
    # single-string invocations go through the shell, like Kernel#system
    ok = Kernel.system(cmd.to_s, *args)
    raise "command failed: #{pretty}" unless ok
  end

  def quiet_system(cmd, *args)
    Kernel.system(cmd.to_s, *args.map(&:to_s), out: File::NULL, err: File::NULL)
  end

  def which(cmd)
    ENV.fetch("PATH", "").split(File::PATH_SEPARATOR).each do |dir|
      candidate = Pathname.new(dir) + cmd.to_s
      return candidate if candidate.executable? && candidate.file?
    end
    nil
  end

  def inreplace(paths, before = nil, after = nil, audit_result = true, &block)
    Array(paths).each do |path|
      path = Pathname.new(path.to_s)
      content = path.read

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. Run the failing command manually in the stage dir to see its full error output
2. Install or expose the missing build dependency the command needs
3. Fix wrong flags/paths in the formula's system(...) invocation
4. Use quiet_system or inreplace alternatives where shell behavior differs

Example fix

# before
system "make", "install"
# after
raise "make install failed" unless quiet_system "make", "install"
system "make", "install"

# preflight: ensure required tools exist before running formula build
%w[make gcc].each { |t| raise "missing tool #{t}" unless system("which", t, out: File::NULL) }

begin
  system "make", "install"
rescue RuntimeError => e
  warn "install step failed: #{e.message}"
  raise
end

When it happens

Trigger: Any build/test/install command invoked via system(...) that exits with a failure status: missing build tool, configure script error, failing make target, missing interpreter, bad flags.

Common situations: Build dependencies not present in the shim environment; configure detecting a missing library and exiting 1; commands assuming Homebrew paths (e.g. HOMEBREW_PREFIX) that the shim doesn't provide; typo'd flags in the formula.

Related errors

• brew-cask: failed to generate {} completions from {}: {}
• systemctl {} failed: {}
• command failed: #{args.join(" ")}
• patch failed:\n#{output}
• completion generation failed: #{cmd.join(" ")}

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/45360f33de15116a. Report an issue: GitHub.