kovidgoyal/kitty · error

No key specified after %s %s

Error message

No key specified after %s %s

What it means

In the space-separated --flag value form, ParseMap cuts the value off at the next space; if no more text follows, there is no key spec remaining and it errors with both the flag and the consumed value.

Source

Thrown at tools/config/utils.go:302

				if err := validateAllowFallback(value); err != nil {
					return nil, err
				}
				if value == "none" {
					allow_fallback = ""
				} else {
					allow_fallback = value
				}
			default:
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unknown map option: %s", flag)
			}
		} else {
			// --flag value form (space-separated)
			name := strings.ReplaceAll(flag[2:], "-", "_")
			switch name {
			case "allow_fallback":
				value, after, has_more := strings.Cut(rest, " ")
				if !has_more {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("No key specified after %s %s", flag, value)
				}
				if err := validateAllowFallback(value); err != nil {
					return nil, err
				}
				if value == "none" {
					allow_fallback = ""
				} else {
					allow_fallback = value
				}
				rest = strings.TrimSpace(after)
			default:
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Unknown map option: %s", flag)
			}
		}
		val = rest
	}
	spec, action, found := strings.Cut(val, " ")
	if !found {

View on GitHub (pinned to 6d5d0c4406)

Solutions

1. Add the key spec and action after the value
2. Trim spaces inside the comma list: use shifted,ascii without spaces, or prefer the = form

Example fix

# before
map --allow-fallback none
# after
map --allow-fallback none ctrl+a 1

_, after, ok := strings.Cut(rest, " ")
if !ok { return fmt.Errorf("no key spec after --allow-fallback value") }

When it happens

Trigger: `map --allow-fallback none` where nothing follows the value — the value consumed the rest of the line leaving no key/action.

Common situations: Forgetting the key/action after the flag value, or the value itself containing a space (e.g. `--allow-fallback shifted, ascii`) which truncates the line.

Related errors

• Invalid allow-fallback value %#v, allowed values: shifted, a
• No key specified after flag %s
• The value {x} is not a known choice
• The value {val} is not a valid choice for progress_bar
• The value {val} is not a valid choice for scrollbar

AI-assisted analysis of kovidgoyal/kitty@6d5d0c4406 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fe71b11bf18cddd2. Report an issue: GitHub.