jdx/mise · error

remote task path is not a regular file or directory: {}

Error message

remote task path is not a regular file or directory: {}

What it means

mise throws this when a path resolved from a remote git task source is neither a regular file nor a directory (e.g. a symlink, socket, or other special file). validate_remote_git_path stats the checked-out path and bails unless the entry type is file or dir, because task files can only be loaded from regular filesystem entries.

Source

Thrown at src/task/task_file_providers/remote_task_git.rs:89

/// regular file or directory.
pub(crate) fn validate_remote_git_path(
    checkout_root: &Path,
    path: &Path,
) -> Result<std::fs::Metadata> {
    let metadata = path.symlink_metadata()?;
    if !path
        .canonicalize()?
        .starts_with(checkout_root.canonicalize()?)
    {
        eyre::bail!(
            "remote task path escapes its Git checkout: {}",
            display_path(path)
        );
    }
    if metadata.file_type().is_file() || metadata.file_type().is_dir() {
        return Ok(metadata);
    }
    eyre::bail!(
        "remote task path is not a regular file or directory: {}",
        display_path(path)
    )
}

impl RemoteTaskGit {
    /// Make fetched task files executable while leaving task include directories intact.
    fn prepare_remote_path(checkout_root: &Path, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
        if validate_remote_git_path(checkout_root, path)?
            .file_type()
            .is_file()
        {
            file::make_executable(path)?;
        }
        Ok(())
    }

    fn prepare_cached_path(checkout_root: &Path, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. Inspect the resolved path with `ls -la` and replace any symlink/special file with a real file or directory
2. Point the remote task config's dir/path option at a real directory in the repo instead of a symlinked path
3. Update the upstream repo so task files are regular files, then re-fetch/re-clone the remote task source
4. Remove stale cached checkouts of the remote task source so mise re-clones cleanly

Example fix

# before (.mise.toml)
[task_config]
source = "git::https://github.com/acme/tasks"
dir = "shared-tasks"   # symlink to ../other/tasks

# after
[task_config]
source = "git::https://github.com/acme/tasks"
dir = "shared-tasks"   # real directory containing task files

if [ ! -f "$TASK_PATH" ] && [ ! -d "$TASK_PATH" ]; then echo "remote task path must be a regular file or directory: $TASK_PATH"; exit 1; fi

is_regular_path() { [ -f "$1" ] || [ -d "$1" ]; }

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring a remote task source (git URL) whose checkout path or in-repo task path resolves to a non-regular entry — most commonly a symlink in the repo pointing at the task file, or the configured subpath landing on a git submodule/special object.

Common situations: A repo stores its mise tasks behind a symlink; user points [task_config] remote source at a path like 'tasks' that is a symlink or unusual file type; odd filesystems report exotic file types after checkout.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is not a compatible type" / "cannot merge" errors: when a value's type doesn't match what the library requires — this error's family across 65 libraries.

Related errors

• remote task path is not a regular file or directory: {}
• failed to locate Git repository for {}: {}
• failed to list Git-tracked files in {}: {}
• task {} was not found after marking {} as executable
• rustc output is not a regular file: {}

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0f7a1055d3a87bcb. Report an issue: GitHub.