matryer/xbar · error

malformed xbar.var format

Error message

malformed xbar.var format

What it means

parsePluginVar parses an <xbar.var> metadata line using the regexp (.+)\((.+)\):\s(.+), which must match exactly once and yield exactly 4 submatches (whole line + type + name + desc). If the line doesn't match exactly one time, a malformed-format errParse is returned wrapping the raw source line so the author can fix it.

Source

Thrown at pkg/metadata/plugin_metadata.go:379

	}
	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
	rand.Shuffle(len(pluginsWithImages), func(i, j int) {
		pluginsWithImages[i], pluginsWithImages[j] = pluginsWithImages[j], pluginsWithImages[i]
	})
	return pluginsWithImages[:n]
}

func parsePluginVar(s string) (PluginVar, error) {
	var v PluginVar
	varLineRegexp, err := regexp.Compile(`(.+)\((.+)\):\s(.+)`)
	if err != nil {
		return v, errors.Wrap(err, "var line regexp")
	}
	segments := varLineRegexp.FindAllStringSubmatch(s, -1)
	if len(segments) != 1 {
		return v, errParse{
			src: s,
			err: errors.New("malformed xbar.var format"),
		}
	}
	if len(segments[0]) != 4 {
		return v, errParse{
			src: s,
			err: errors.New("malformed xbar.var format"),
		}
	}
	segs := segments[0]
	v.Type = segs[1]
	v.Desc = segs[3]
	v.Name = segs[2]
	if strings.Contains(v.Name, "=") {
		nameSegs := strings.Split(v.Name, "=")
		v.Name = nameSegs[0]
		v.Default = strings.Trim(nameSegs[1], `"'`)
	}
	v.Label = v.Name

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

1. Rewrite the var line in the canonical form: <xbar.var>string(VAR_NAME): Description.</xbar.var>
2. Ensure exactly one xbar.var declaration per line with matching parentheses and a ': ' before the description
3. Include a non-empty description after the colon — the regex requires whitespace then text
4. Re-run Parse and check the errParse.src field to see the exact offending line

Example fix

// before
// <xbar.var>string(VAR_API_KEY)</xbar.var>
// after
// <xbar.var>string(VAR_API_KEY): Your API key.</xbar.var>

var varLineRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^<xbar\.var>(.+)\((.+)\):\s(.+)</xbar\.var>$`)

func isWellFormedVarLine(line string) bool {
	return varLineRe.MatchString(strings.TrimSpace(line))
}

func isParsableVar(line string) bool {
	_, err := regexp.Compile(`(.+)\((.+)\):\s(.+)`)
	if err != nil {
		return false
	}
	return len(regexp.MustCompile(`(.+)\((.+)\):\s(.+)`).FindAllStringSubmatch(line, -1)) == 1
}

v, err := metadata.Parse(src)
if err != nil {
	var ep metadata.ErrParse // or use errors.As on the concrete errParse type
	if errors.As(err, &ep) && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "malformed xbar.var format") {
		log.Printf("fix this var line: %s", ep.Src)
		return
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Parse encounters an xbar.var line that doesn't fit '<TYPE>(<NAME>[=default]): <desc>' — e.g. "<xbar.var>string(VAR_NAME)</xbar.var>" (missing colon+desc), "<xbar.var>string VAR_NAME: desc</xbar.var>" (missing parens), or a line with two xbar.var elements on one source string giving 2 matches.

Common situations: Hand-written var lines missing the colon or description; nested/multiple var declarations on one line; copy-paste losing the ': ' separator; smart quotes or unicode characters breaking the match; trailing whitespace inside the tag confusing the regex.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• malformed xbar.var format (missing select options)
• malformed xbar.var format (empty select options)
• metadata.Parse
• not an xbar:// url
• unsupported action %q

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/60b5c5e61a1ec4bf. Report an issue: GitHub.