What causes "defaults patch path must not be empty: {request}" in jdx/mise?

Set a non-empty patch path (e.g. "key.subkey") in the DefaultsRequest

defaults patch path must not be empty

Error message

defaults patch path must not be empty: {request}

What it means

Thrown by validate_requests (used by the defaults status, apply, and prepare_writes flows) when a macOS DefaultsRequest includes a patch path that is an empty string. A patch path selects a subkey inside the domain's plist; an empty path is ambiguous and would produce an invalid defaults operation, so it is rejected.

Solutions

Set a non-empty patch path (e.g. "key.subkey") in the DefaultsRequest
Omit the path field entirely (None) if you intend to patch the whole domain value
Check config parsing that produces the path — an empty TOML/CLI value likely slipped through

Example fix

// before
DefaultsRequest { domain: "com.apple.dock", path: Some(String::new()), .. }
// after
DefaultsRequest { domain: "com.apple.dock", path: Some("autohide".into()), .. }
// or: path: None to patch the whole domain value

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn validate_defaults_request(req: &DefaultsRequest) -> Result<(), String> {
    if let Some(p) = &req.path {
        if p.is_empty() { return Err(format!("defaults patch path must not be empty: {}", req.domain)); }
    }
    Ok(())
}

Type guard

fn has_valid_path(req: &DefaultsRequest) -> bool {
    req.path.as_ref().map_or(true, |p| !p.is_empty())
}

Prevention

Use None instead of Some(String::new()) when no sub-path is intended
Validate config-driven path strings for emptiness at parse time
Check string-splitting logic that builds paths for empty segments

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing a DefaultsRequest with `path: Some("")` (e.g. from parsing config like `path = ""` or splitting an empty key path) and passing it to defaults status/apply/prepare_writes.

Common situations: A bootstrap config where the dot-notation path under a defaults key was omitted, yielding an empty string; string splitting that produces an empty segment; programmatic request building with an uninitialized path.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/12c7667d43ea186f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/system/defaults.rs:296

            continue;
        }
        debug!("setting macOS preference {req}");
    }
    if dry_run {
        return Ok(());
    }
    let requests = requests.to_vec();
    tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || write_all(&requests)).await?
}

/// Reject conflicting ownership before inspecting or writing preferences.
fn validate_requests(requests: &[DefaultsRequest]) -> Result<()> {
    for (i, request) in requests.iter().enumerate() {
        if request.dock_apps {
            dock::paths(&request.value)?;
        }
        if let Some(path) = &request.path {
            eyre::ensure!(
                !path.is_empty(),
                "defaults patch path must not be empty: {request}"
            );
        }
        for other in &requests[..i] {
            if canonical_domain(&request.domain) != canonical_domain(&other.domain)
                || request.key != other.key
                || request.host != other.host
            {
                continue;
            }
            let overlaps = match (&request.path, &other.path) {
                (None, None) => false, // Preserve existing whole-value declarations.
                (Some(a), Some(b)) => a.starts_with(b) || b.starts_with(a),
                _ => true,
            };
            eyre::ensure!(
                !overlaps,

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)