jdx/mise · error

tracked file {target} cannot declare source, content, manife

Error message

tracked file {target} cannot declare source, content, manifest, or exclude

What it means

`mode = "track"` marks an already-existing file for tracking in the dotfiles root; it takes no provisioning inputs because the file is not copied, symlinked, or generated from a source. If a tracked entry declares `source`, `content`, `manifest`, or `exclude`, validation fails since those options contradict the track semantics.

Source

Thrown at src/system/files.rs:610

                if content.is_some() && (mode.is_some() || exclude.is_some() || manifest.is_some())
                {
                    bail!(
                        "dotfile {target}: inline content does not support mode, exclude, or manifest"
                    );
                }
                let mode = match mode.as_deref() {
                    Some(value) => FileMode::parse(value).ok_or_else(|| {
                        eyre::eyre!("unknown dotfile mode {value:?} for {target}")
                    })?,
                    None => default_mode(),
                };
                if mode == FileMode::Track
                    && (source.is_some()
                        || content.is_some()
                        || manifest.is_some()
                        || exclude.is_some())
                {
                    bail!(
                        "tracked file {target} cannot declare source, content, manifest, or exclude"
                    );
                }
                if source.is_some() && content.is_some() {
                    bail!("dotfile {target} cannot declare both source and content");
                }
                if mode != FileMode::Track && source.is_none() && content.is_none() {
                    implied_source(&resolve_target_arg(&target))?;
                }
                if let Some(manifest) = manifest
                    && (FileManifest::parse(&manifest).is_none()
                        || !matches!(mode, FileMode::Copy | FileMode::SymlinkEach))
                {
                    bail!("invalid manifest {manifest:?} for dotfile {target}");
                }
                for pattern in exclude.into_iter().flatten() {
                    glob::Pattern::new(&pattern)?;
                }

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

  1. Remove `source`, `content`, `manifest`, and `exclude` from the tracked entry; keep only `mode = "track"` (plus allowed keys like `encrypt`/`variants`).
  2. If the file actually needs to be provisioned from a source, drop `mode = "track"` and keep `source` with the appropriate mode (copy/symlink).
  3. Use track mode only for files that already exist on the machine and should be adopted into the dotfiles root.

Example fix

// before
[dotfiles."~/.config/foo/bar.conf"]
mode = "track"
source = "bar.conf"

// after
[dotfiles."~/.config/foo/bar.conf"]
mode = "track"
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function assertTrackEntry(entry, target) {
  if (entry.mode === 'track' && ['source','content','manifest','exclude'].some(k => k in entry))
    throw new Error(`${target}: tracked file cannot declare source/content/manifest/exclude`);
}

Try / catch

try {
  applyDotfiles();
} catch (e) {
  if (/tracked file .* cannot declare/.test(e.message)) {
    console.error('Keep only mode = "track" (and encrypt/variants/enabled) on tracked entries');
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Setting `mode = "track"` on a `[dotfiles."~/..."]` entry while also specifying any of `source`, `content`, `manifest`, or `exclude`.

Common situations: Changing an existing copy/symlink entry to track mode without deleting its `source`/`exclude` keys, or adding `mode = "track"` to a templated config snippet that already had `source`.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb529b1b981c8571. Report an issue: GitHub.