matryer/xbar · error

expected "true" or "false", not "%s"

Error message

expected "true" or "false", not "%s"

What it means

This error is produced by parseBool when strconv.ParseBool rejects the given string while parsing any boolean item parameter (disabled, terminal, refresh, dropdown, trim, alternate, emojize, ansi). It reports the exact offending value: expected "true" or "false", not "<value>". The caller setValueByKey then wraps it with the key name, so the final message reads like 'refresh: expected "true" or "false", not "yes"'.

Source

Thrown at pkg/plugins/item_params.go:280

			}
			for len(p.ShellParams) < paramIndex {
				// ensure the slice is big enough
				p.ShellParams = append(p.ShellParams, "")
			}
			p.ShellParams[paramIndex-1] = value
			return nil
		}
		return errors.Errorf("unknown parameter: %s", key)
	}
	return nil
}

// parseBool parses a boolean from a string (either `true` or `false`),
// returning a nice error if it fails.
func parseBool(s string) (bool, error) {
	b, err := strconv.ParseBool(s)
	if err != nil {
		return false, errors.Errorf(`expected "true" or "false", not "%s"`, s)
	}
	return b, nil
}

// parseColor parses the color value given.
// Valid values: named color, #RGB, #RGBA, #RRGGBB, #RRGGBBAA.
// Returns a nice error if it fails.
func parseColor(s string) (string, error) {
	if len(s) == 0 {
		return "", errors.Errorf("expected hex string or named color") // Probably an error?
	}
	s = strings.ToLower(s)
	if s[0] == '#' {
		// Matches #RGB #RGBA #RRGGBB #RRGGBBAA
		if !colorRegexp.Match([]byte(s)) {
			return "", errors.Errorf(`invalid hex format "%s"`, s)
		}
		return s, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

1. Replace the value with a valid boolean literal: true or false (1/0, t/f also accepted).
2. Trim whitespace and remove stray characters from the metadata line.
3. In generating scripts, emit explicit literals, e.g. printf 'dropdown=%s' "$([ "$cond" ] && echo true || echo false)".
4. Remove the key entirely if the default is acceptable.

Example fix

// before
params := "terminal=yes"
// after
params := "terminal=true"

func sanitizeBoolParams(params string) (string, error) {
    boolKeys := map[string]bool{"disabled": true, "terminal": true, "refresh": true,
        "dropdown": true, "trim": true, "alternate": true, "emojize": true, "ansi": true}
    var out []string
    for _, kv := range strings.Split(params, ",") {
        parts := strings.SplitN(kv, "=", 2)
        if len(parts) == 2 && boolKeys[parts[0]] {
            if _, err := strconv.ParseBool(strings.TrimSpace(parts[1])); err != nil {
                return "", fmt.Errorf("%s: expected true or false, not %q", parts[0], parts[1])
            }
        }
        out = append(out, kv)
    }
    return strings.Join(out, ","), nil
}

func isGoBool(s string) bool {
    _, err := strconv.ParseBool(strings.TrimSpace(s))
    return err == nil
}

if err := item.ParseParams(raw); err != nil {
    // err reads: <key>: expected "true" or "false", not "<value>"
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "expected \"true\" or \"false\"") {
        log.Printf("boolean param typo in %q: %v", raw, err)
        raw = sanitizeBoolParams(stripOffending(raw)) // retry with cleaned params
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any boolean param key given a value outside strconv.ParseBool's accepted set (true/false/1/0/t/f/TRUE/FALSE/True/False/T/F), including empty strings and values with surrounding whitespace.

Common situations: Using yes/no or on/off from YAML/INI habits, leaving a value empty (key=), trailing spaces or invisible characters from hand-edited metadata, and shell scripts interpolating unset variables producing empty values.

Related errors

• refresh
• dropdown
• trim
• alternate
• emojize

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7d1080959f913d52. Report an issue: GitHub.