jdx/mise · error

no dotfiles matched target filter: {}

Error message

no dotfiles matched target filter: {}

What it means

Thrown by `mise bootstrap dotfiles unapply [TARGET]...` with the same guard as `status`: filters were supplied, nothing matched, yet the config does define dotfiles. mise refuses to continue so a mistyped target cannot make `unapply` look like success — the no-filter, nothing-configured case only prints an info message, never this error.

Source

Thrown at src/cli/dotfiles/unapply.rs:54

        let files = all_files
            .iter()
            .filter(|req| {
                system::files::matches_target(&req.target, &req.target_raw, &self.targets)
            })
            .cloned()
            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
        let all_edits = system::edits::edits_from_config(&config)?;
        let edits = all_edits
            .iter()
            .filter(|req| system::edits::matches_target(req, &self.targets))
            .cloned()
            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
        if files.is_empty()
            && edits.is_empty()
            && !self.targets.is_empty()
            && (!all_files.is_empty() || !all_edits.is_empty())
        {
            eyre::bail!(
                "no dotfiles matched target filter: {}",
                self.targets.join(", ")
            );
        }
        if files.is_empty() && edits.is_empty() {
            super::warn_if_dotfiles_ignored();
            info!("no dotfiles configured in [dotfiles]");
            return Ok(());
        }

        let mut edit_opts = system::edits::UnapplyOpts {
            dry_run: self.dry_run,
            verbose: Settings::get().verbose,
            force: self.force,
            yes: self.yes,
        };
        let mut file_opts = system::files::UnapplyOpts {
            dry_run: self.dry_run,

View on GitHub (pinned to 6f52dcdf99)

Solutions

1. List valid targets with `mise bootstrap dotfiles status` (no args) and correct the filter
2. Match the exact `target`/`path` string from the config, including the `~/` prefix as written
3. Drop the filters to unapply everything, if that is the intent
4. Keep unapply scripts in sync with the `[dotfiles]` section after renames

Example fix

# before
$ mise bootstrap dotfiles unapply zsh
error: no dotfiles matched target filter: zsh

# after
$ mise bootstrap dotfiles unapply ~/.zshrc

# Guard unapply scripts against stale target lists
for t in "${TARGETS[@]}"; do
  mise bootstrap dotfiles status | grep -qF "$t" || { echo "stale target: $t" >&2; exit 2; }
done
mise bootstrap dotfiles unapply "${TARGETS[@]}"

When it happens

Trigger: Running `mise bootstrap dotfiles unapply vim` when the configured target is `~/.config/nvim/init.lua`, or passing a glob the config never declared: the filter over both `files` and `edits` yields empty vectors while `all_files`/`all_edits` are non-empty.

Common situations: Cleanup scripts that unapply a list of dotfiles after a name refactor; using a task name or tool name instead of the dotfile target path; config entries removed from mise.toml while the unapply script still lists the old targets.

Related errors

• no dotfiles matched target filter: {}
• files: cannot unapply these entries:\n{}
• target symlink points to {}, use --force to remove it
• target is not the managed symlink, use --force to remove it
• target is not the managed directory, use --force to remove i

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@6f52dcdf99 (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1faa1b756d09b4f2. Report an issue: GitHub.