What causes "failed to add {}" in jdx/mise?

Check the file exists at the real (non-symlink) path and is readable

failed to add

Error message

failed to add {}

What it means

After `dotfiles edit` runs the DotfilesAdd flow to bring a target under management, it re-reads config and calls source_for_target to find the file's backing source path. If the add silently failed to produce a matching entry, edit bails with 'failed to add <target>'.

Solutions

Check the file exists at the real (non-symlink) path and is readable
Inspect [dotfiles] entries in ~/.config/mise/mise.toml after the failure to see if anything was written
Run `mise dotfiles add <target>` explicitly and observe its output/errors
Re-run `mise dotfiles edit <target>` after a successful add

Example fix

// before: edit with implicit add failing
mise dotfiles edit ~/dotfiles/ghostty/config
// after: add explicitly first, then edit
mise dotfiles add ~/dotfiles/ghostty/config
mise dotfiles edit ~/dotfiles/ghostty/config

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

mise dotfiles add "$target" && mise config ls | grep -F "$target"

Try / catch

if let Err(e) = edit_target(t) { if e.to_string().starts_with("failed to add") { eprintln!("run `mise dotfiles add {t}` explicitly"); } }

Prevention

Run `mise dotfiles add` explicitly instead of relying on edit's implicit add
Confirm the target is a regular readable file, not a dangling symlink
Keep the dotfiles config directory initialized

When it happens

Trigger: The DotfilesAdd::run() completes without error but source_for_target on the refreshed Config still returns None — e.g. the add was a no-op because the file is outside the dotfiles root, already symlinked elsewhere, or matched no valid edit entry.

Common situations: Target path is a symlink whose source cannot be determined; dotfiles config directory not initialized; filesystem permission problems preventing the add; race where config reset picks up stale state.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/622cedfd8d8d0c60. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/cli/dotfiles/edit.rs:102

            targets: vec![self.target.clone()],
            changed: false,
            mode: self.mode.clone(),
            source: self.source.clone(),
            global: true,
            local: false,
            path: None,
            dry_run: false,
            no_apply: true,
            force: false,
            yes: true,
            prompt_secrets: self.prompt_secrets,
        }
        .run()
        .await?;

        config = Config::reset().await?;
        let Some(path) = source_for_target(&config, &target, &self.target)? else {
            bail!("failed to add {}", self.target);
        };
        open_or_create(&path)?;
        crate::cli::editor::open_in_editor(&path)?;
        if self.apply {
            apply_target(&self.target, self.prompt_secrets).await?;
        }
        Ok(())
    }
}

fn source_for_target(
    config: &Config,
    target: &std::path::Path,
    raw: &str,
) -> Result<Option<PathBuf>> {
    for req in system::files::files_from_config(config)? {
        if system::files::matches_target(&req.target, &req.target_raw, &[raw.to_string()]) {
            return Ok(Some(req.source));

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