select one operation by its identifier before accepting…

Error message

select one operation by its identifier before accepting current files

What it means

`mise dot recover` with `--keep-current` (accepting current live files) or an operation selector requires exactly one matching pending operation. If more than one record matched, the intent is ambiguous, so it bails.

Solutions

Pass the exact operation identifier: `mise dot recover <id> --keep-current`
Resolve/recover pending operations one at a time until only one remains
Run `mise dot history --pending` to see which operations are pending and pick one
Drop --keep-current if you want a different bulk behavior (with confirmation)

Example fix

# before
mise dot recover --keep-current  # 3 pending ops
# after
mise dot recover 3f2a... --keep-current  # select one by id

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

pending=$(mise dot history --pending)
count=$(echo "$pending" | grep -c '^' )
if [ "$count" -gt 1 ] && [ -z "${OP_ID:-}" ]; then echo "select one operation id"; exit 1; fi

Try / catch

if ! mise dot recover --keep-current 2>/dev/null; then
  mise dot recover "$(mise dot history --pending | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')" --keep-current
fi

Prevention

Always pass the operation identifier when multiple ops may be pending
Drain pending operations one at a time
Don't combine --keep-current with ambiguous selectors
Check `mise dot history --pending` count before bulk recovery

When it happens

Trigger: Running `mise dot recover --keep-current` (or with an operation id) when `selected.len() > 1` — the selector matched multiple pending operations or no selector was given but several are pending.

Common situations: Multiple interrupted operations pending after several failed runs; combining --keep-current with a pattern that matches several records; forgetting to pass the specific operation identifier.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3195d67a86055709. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/cli/dotfiles/recover.rs:77

        }
        for (_, record) in &selected {
            miseprintln!("Interrupted operation {}", record.checkpoint.uuid);
            if let Some(operation) = &record.checkpoint.operation {
                let paths = operation
                    .journal
                    .iter()
                    .filter_map(|entry| match entry {
                        JournalEntry::PathChanged { path, .. } => Some(path),
                        _ => None,
                    })
                    .collect::<BTreeSet<_>>();
                for path in paths {
                    miseprintln!("  {}", crate::file::display_path(path));
                }
            }
        }
        if selected.len() > 1 && (self.keep_current || self.operation.is_some()) {
            bail!("select one operation by its identifier before accepting current files");
        }
        if self.keep_current
            && !self.yes
            && !crate::ui::prompt::confirm(
                "Keep these live files and discard this operation's temporary recovery copies?",
            )?
            .is_yes()
        {
            info!("dotfiles: recovery copies preserved");
            return Ok(());
        }
        for (_, record) in selected {
            scope::recover_operation(&store, tracked, &record.checkpoint.uuid, self.keep_current)?;
            if store::list_pending_in(store.state_dir())?
                .iter()
                .any(|(_, pending)| pending.checkpoint.uuid == record.checkpoint.uuid)
            {
                bail!(

View on GitHub (pinned to 533346cc37)