jdx/mise · error

unknown dotfile key {key:?} for {target} in {}

Error message

unknown dotfile key {key:?} for {target} in {}

What it means

Once a dotfile entry parses, every key inside its table is checked against a fixed allowlist: `source`, `content`, `mode`, `exclude`, `manifest`, `autosave`, `encrypt`, `variants`, `enabled`. Any other key is a configuration typo that would otherwise be silently ignored, so validation fails with the offending key and target named.

Source

Thrown at src/system/files.rs:573

                    continue;
                }
                bail!("invalid dotfile declaration {target} in {}", path.display());
            };
            if let Some(table) = value.as_table() {
                for key in table.keys() {
                    if !matches!(
                        key.as_str(),
                        "source"
                            | "content"
                            | "mode"
                            | "exclude"
                            | "manifest"
                            | "autosave"
                            | "encrypt"
                            | "variants"
                            | "enabled"
                    ) {
                        bail!(
                            "unknown dotfile key {key:?} for {target} in {}",
                            path.display()
                        );
                    }
                }
            }
            if resolve_target_arg(&target).is_relative() {
                bail!("dotfile target must be absolute or start with ~/: {target}");
            }
            if let FileTomlEntry::Table {
                source,
                content,
                mode,
                manifest,
                exclude,
                ..
            } = entry
            {

View on GitHub (pinned to afd2eddd3a)

Solutions

1. Rename the flagged key to one of the allowed keys: source, content, mode, exclude, manifest, autosave, encrypt, variants, enabled.
2. If the key was meant to configure a different mise feature, move it out of the `[dotfiles.<target>]` table into the correct section.
3. Remove the key entirely if it was speculative; unknown keys are intentionally rejected rather than ignored.

Example fix

// before
[dotfiles."~/.gitconfig"]
source = "gitconfig"
permissuns = "644"

// after
[dotfiles."~/.gitconfig"]
source = "gitconfig"
mode = "644"

const ALLOWED = new Set(['source','content','mode','exclude','manifest','autosave','encrypt','variants','enabled']);
function assertAllowedKeys(entry, target) {
  for (const key of Object.keys(entry))
    if (!ALLOWED.has(key)) throw new Error(`unknown dotfile key '${key}' for ${target}`);
}

try {
  applyDotfiles();
} catch (e) {
  if (/unknown dotfile key/.test(e.message)) {
    const key = e.message.match(/key '(.*?)'/)?.[1];
    console.error(`Remove or rename key '${key}' in the dotfiles table`);
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Placing any non-allowlisted key inside a `[dotfiles."~/target"]` table in a mise config file parsed by `validate_incoming_files`, e.g. `ownership = true`, `src = "..."`, or `chmod = "755"`.

Common situations: Misspelling a real key (`soure`, `encrypte`), copying keys from other tools' dotfile managers, or inventing keys expecting them to be honored.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid value" and "allowed values are" config errors: what your library rejected and how to fix it — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• invalid dotfile declaration {target} in {}
• dotfile {target}: inline content does not support mode, excl
• tracked file {target} cannot declare source, content, manife
• dotfile {target} cannot declare both source and content
• invalid manifest {manifest:?} for dotfile {target}

AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@afd2eddd3a (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3997ba6af8f3d25f. Report an issue: GitHub.