jdx/mise · error

invalid remote

Error message

invalid remote {kind}: {value}

What it means

`validate_ssh_atom` validates individual remote command components (host, user, remote paths, args — the `kind` names which) and rejects values that start with '-' (which SSH would parse as a flag) or contain whitespace (which would split an argument). This is an injection/argument-confusion guard before values are passed to the ssh command line.

Solutions

1. Remove leading dashes and whitespace from the configured host/user/path value
2. Quote or escape spaces in filesystem paths at the source of configuration, or use the path as a single atom without spaces
3. If ssh needs extra flags (e.g. port), use the dedicated option field/args rather than embedding them in the host atom

Example fix

// before
MISE_REMOTE_HOST="deploy@host -p 2222"   # starts atom with flag injection
// after
MISE_REMOTE_HOST="deploy@host"
MISE_REMOTE_PORT=2222   # pass options as their own fields

fn is_safe_ssh_atom(v: &str) -> bool {
    !v.is_empty() && !v.starts_with('-') && !v.chars().any(char::is_whitespace) && !v.contains('\\0')
}
// before invoking:
assert!(is_safe_ssh_atom(host), "host must not start with '-' or contain spaces");

fn valid_remote_host(v: &str) -> Option<&str> {
    (!v.starts_with('-') && !v.contains(char::is_whitespace)).then_some(v)
}

match Err(e) if e.to_string().starts_with("invalid remote ") {
    // fix the offending config value named in `kind` and retry
    fix_remote_config(&kind); retry();
}

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring a remote target with a host, user, or path that begins with '-' or contains spaces — e.g. host name with a space, a path with unquoted spaces, or a malicious-looking '-oProxyCommand=...' value.

Common situations: Typo in remote config where the value absorbed a separator (e.g. `host -p 2222` pasted as one string); paths containing spaces on the remote; attempted option injection into ssh.

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

• remote host ' ' port must be greater than zero
• remote cannot be empty or contain NUL
• remote mktemp returned an unsafe staging path
• a repository preview directory requires a dry run
• bootstrap_command returned an unsafe mise path

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a6a59fc7a7b2bacc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/system/remote.rs:2172

            base.join(path)
        };
        absolutize(&path)
    })
    .transpose()
}

fn absolutize(path: &Path) -> Result<PathBuf> {
    if path.is_absolute() {
        Ok(path.to_path_buf())
    } else {
        Ok(std::env::current_dir()?.join(path))
    }
}

fn validate_ssh_atom(kind: &str, value: &str) -> Result<()> {
    validate_value(kind, value)?;
    if value.starts_with('-') || value.chars().any(char::is_whitespace) {
        bail!("invalid remote {kind}: {value}");
    }
    Ok(())
}

fn validate_value(kind: &str, value: &str) -> Result<()> {
    if value.is_empty() || value.contains('\0') {
        bail!("remote {kind} cannot be empty or contain NUL");
    }
    Ok(())
}

fn validate_staging_path(path: &str) -> Result<()> {
    if !path.starts_with("/tmp/mise-bootstrap.")
        || path["/tmp/mise-bootstrap.".len()..].is_empty()
        || path.chars().any(char::is_whitespace)
    {
        bail!("remote mktemp returned an unsafe staging path: {path:?}");
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)