jdx/mise · error

invalid or repeated variant for {}

Error message

invalid or repeated variant for {}

What it means

During dotfile enrollment manifest validation, each variant name must be safe and unique. This error fires when a variant name contains '@', is not a safe branch path per sync::layout::is_safe_branch_path, or duplicates a variant already seen for the same entry. It prevents ambiguous or unportable stream names from being persisted.

Source

Thrown at src/system/history/manifest.rs:378

        let mut paths = std::collections::BTreeSet::new();
        for entry in &self.enrollment {
            if !super::sync::layout::is_safe_branch_path(&entry.path)
                || !(entry.path.starts_with("home/")
                    || entry.path == "config"
                    || entry.path.starts_with("config/"))
                || !paths.insert(&entry.path)
            {
                bail!("invalid or repeated enrollment path {}", entry.path);
            }
            let mut variants = std::collections::BTreeSet::new();
            super::select::validate(&entry.variants)?;
            for variant in &entry.variants {
                let name = variant.name();
                if name.contains('@')
                    || !super::sync::layout::is_safe_branch_path(&name)
                    || !variants.insert(name)
                {
                    bail!("invalid or repeated variant for {}", entry.path);
                }
            }
        }
        for (path, bits) in &self.permissions {
            if *bits > 0o777
                || !super::sync::layout::is_safe_branch_path(path)
                || !self.owns_stream(path)
            {
                bail!("invalid or unenrolled permission path {path}");
            }
        }
        Ok(())
    }

    pub(crate) fn read(repo: &HistoryRepo, tree: &str) -> Result<Option<Self>> {
        let Some((mode, oid)) = repo.object_at(tree, PATH)? else {
            return Ok(None);
        };

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. Remove duplicate variant entries for the affected path, keeping one.
2. Remove '@' from the variant name; '@' is reserved syntax.
3. Rename the variant to satisfy is_safe_branch_path (relative, no traversal, safe characters).
4. Regenerate the manifest with the enrollment tooling instead of hand-editing.

Example fix

// before (manifest JSON)
{"path": "dotfiles/zshrc", "variants": ["main", "main"]}
// after
{"path": "dotfiles/zshrc", "variants": ["main", "laptop"]}

fn variant_ok(name: &str, seen: &mut std::collections::HashSet<&str>) -> bool {
    !name.contains('@') && seen.insert(name)
}

fn is_safe_variant(name: &str) -> bool { !name.contains('@') && !name.contains("..") && !name.starts_with('/') }

match manifest.validate() {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().starts_with("invalid or repeated variant") => {
        eprintln!("fix manifest variants: {e}");
    }
    r => r?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Manifest::validate (directly or via read/write/tracking) on a manifest whose entry.variants contains a name with '@', an unsafe path (e.g. '..', absolute, reserved components), or the same variant name twice for one entry.path.

Common situations: Hand-edited or tool-generated enrollment manifests with duplicate variants; names copied from refs like 'origin/main@1'; paths with traversal components or characters rejected by is_safe_branch_path.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• dotfile enrollment metadata must be a regular file
• [dotfiles]."{}": manifest requires the source to be a direct
• invalid or unenrolled permission path {path}
• the packslip names an executable {:?}, which is not a plain
• {} exists but is not a git checkout with an origin remote

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4a237cdd70d0ce5c. Report an issue: GitHub.