jdx/mise · warning · eyre::Report

systemDependencies entry must set exactly one of bin/pkgconf

Error message

systemDependencies entry must set exactly one of bin/pkgconfig/sharedlib/command

What it means

A vfox plugin's PLUGIN.systemDependencies entries describe host prerequisites as capability checks. Each entry must set exactly one of bin (PATH executable), pkgconfig (.pc module), sharedlib (soname), or command (exit-0 shell command). Setting none or more than one fails this conversion; mise then warns and skips the bad entry while keeping the rest of the plugin usable, so this is surfaced as a warning, not a fatal error.

Source

Thrown at src/system/deps.rs:197

pub struct DepStatus {
    pub dep: SystemDep,
    /// detected version, if a version was extracted
    pub found: Option<String>,
    pub satisfied: bool,
    /// why it is unsatisfied (or a note when satisfied)
    pub reason: Option<String>,
}

impl TryFrom<vfox::SystemDependency> for SystemDep {
    type Error = eyre::Error;

    fn try_from(d: vfox::SystemDependency) -> eyre::Result<Self> {
        let check = match (&d.bin, &d.pkgconfig, &d.sharedlib, &d.command) {
            (Some(b), None, None, None) => SystemDepCheck::Bin(b.clone()),
            (None, Some(p), None, None) => SystemDepCheck::PkgConfig(p.clone()),
            (None, None, Some(s), None) => SystemDepCheck::SharedLib(s.clone()),
            (None, None, None, Some(c)) => SystemDepCheck::Command(c.clone()),
            _ => eyre::bail!(
                "systemDependencies entry must set exactly one of bin/pkgconfig/sharedlib/command"
            ),
        };
        // A version constraint is only meaningful for bin/pkgconfig (we probe
        // `--version` / `--modversion`). If declared on sharedlib/command,
        // keep the check but drop the version with a warning rather than
        // silently honoring a constraint that is never enforced.
        let version = match (&check, &d.version) {
            (_, None) => None,
            (SystemDepCheck::Bin(_) | SystemDepCheck::PkgConfig(_), Some(v)) => {
                Some(VersionConstraint::parse(v)?)
            }
            (check, Some(_)) => {
                warn!(
                    "systemDependencies: `version` is only supported for bin/pkgconfig checks, ignoring it for the {} check",
                    check.kind()
                );
                None

View on GitHub (pinned to 9dcfcaa0dc)

Solutions

1. Keep exactly one check field per entry — split combined checks into multiple entries
2. Use bin for executables, pkgconfig for compiled-library modules, sharedlib for sonames, command as the compound escape hatch
3. Reload plugin metadata (`mise plugins install --force` or re-resolve) after fixing the Lua table

Example fix

-- before (plugin .lua PLUGIN table)
systemDependencies = {
  { bin = "gcc", pkgconfig = "libxml-2.0" },
}

-- after
systemDependencies = {
  { bin = "gcc" },
  { pkgconfig = "libxml-2.0" },
}

-- in plugin tests / CI: validate each entry before shipping
for _, dep in ipairs(PLUGIN.systemDependencies or {}) do
  local n = (dep.bin and 1 or 0) + (dep.pkgconfig and 1 or 0)
            + (dep.sharedlib and 1 or 0) + (dep.command and 1 or 0)
  assert(n == 1, 'systemDependencies entry must set exactly one of bin/pkgconfig/sharedlib/command')
end

When it happens

Trigger: A plugin's Lua PLUGIN table contains an empty dependency table {}, or combines checks like { bin = "gcc", pkgconfig = "libxml-2.0" }, in the systemDependencies list.

Common situations: Plugin authors writing new systemDependencies metadata; assuming more fields means OR/AND semantics; copy-pasting an entry and forgetting to delete the other kind fields.

Related errors

• vfox-backend plugin '{plugin_name}' exists but '{tool_name}'
• trimPrefix requires exactly 2 arguments
• unsupported remote cache digest algorithm
• invalid remote cache digest
• invalid remote action manifest ETag

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@9dcfcaa0dc (2026-08-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5406b4821701efdf. Report an issue: GitHub.