matryer/xbar · error

unable to open URL %s

Error message

unable to open URL %s

What it means

This error wraps the failure of the OS-level 'open' command launched by CommandService.OpenURL when the user clicks a menu-item href. It means the platform could not launch the default browser/handler for the given URL — e.g. the 'open' command exited non-zero or could not be started — not that the URL itself is invalid.

Source

Thrown at app/command_service.go:60

// WindowMinimise minimises the window.
func (c *CommandService) WindowMinimise() {
	c.runtime.Window.Minimise()
}

// OpenPath opens a window.
func (c CommandService) OpenPath(path string) error {
	err := c.runCommand("open", path)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Wrapf(err, "unable to open path %q", path)
	}
	return nil
}

// OpenURL opens a window.
func (c CommandService) OpenURL(url string) error {
	err := c.runCommand("open", url)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Wrapf(err, "unable to open URL %s", url)
	}
	return nil
}

// OpenFile opens a file for editing.
func (c CommandService) OpenFile(path string) error {
	err := c.runCommand("open", filepath.Join(pluginDirectory, path))
	if err != nil {
		return errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to open %q", path)
	}
	return nil
}

// runCommand runs the command, wiring up stdout and stderr, and
// inheriting the environment.
func (CommandService) runCommand(name string, args ...string) error {
	cmd := exec.Command(name, args...)
	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

1. Validate the URL is absolute and well-formed (url.Parse + scheme check) before calling OpenURL
2. Check a default browser is configured on the system
3. Ensure the platform supports the `open` command

Example fix

// before
svc.OpenURL("xbar://open-plugin?id=abc def")
// after
u := url.URL{Scheme: "xbar", Opaque: "open-plugin", RawQuery: "id=abc"}
svc.OpenURL(u.String())

// before OpenURL: require an absolute, parseable URL
u, err := url.Parse(rawURL)
if err != nil || u.Scheme == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("invalid URL %q", rawURL)
}

// Go
if err := svc.OpenURL(rawURL); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unable to open URL") {
        return fmt.Errorf("could not open %q in browser: %w", rawURL, err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling CommandService.OpenURL with an invalid or unopenable URL, or when the underlying `open` command fails to execute (e.g. no default browser, non-macOS platform).

Common situations: Malformed URL strings (missing scheme, spaces); opening a URL that the OS cannot handle; running where `open` is not available.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid URL" / "URL cannot be empty": fix the malformed or missing URL behind request-construction failures — this error's family across 50 libraries.

Related errors

• unable to open path %q
• failed to open %q
• not an xbar:// url
• unsupported action %q
• run in terminal script failed: %s

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a62175350264b654. Report an issue: GitHub.