matryer/xbar · error

unknown xbar.var type: %s

Error message

unknown xbar.var type: %s

What it means

parsePluginVar only supports a fixed set of xbar.var types (e.g. string, number, select, checkbox). If the var declaration uses an unrecognized type keyword, the parser falls into the default branch and returns errors.Errorf("unknown xbar.var type: %s", v.Type).

Source

Thrown at pkg/metadata/plugin_metadata.go:444

				src: s,
				err: errors.New("malformed xbar.var format (empty select options)"),
			}
		}
		defaultFound := false
		for _, val := range v.Options {
			if val == v.Default {
				defaultFound = true
				break
			}
		}
		if !defaultFound {
			return v, errParse{
				src: s,
				err: errors.New("malformed xbar.var format (default not in select options)"),
			}
		}
	default: // invalid type
		return v, errors.Errorf("unknown xbar.var type: %s", v.Type)
	}
	return v, nil
}

type errMissingMetadata string

func (e errMissingMetadata) Error() string {
	return fmt.Sprintf("missing <%[1]s></%[1]s>", string(e))
}

type errParse struct {
	src string
	err error
}

func (e errParse) Error() string {
	if e.src != "" {
		return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %q", e.err, e.src)

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

1. Change the var type keyword to a supported one (string, number, select, checkbox)
2. Fix the typo in the type name in the xbar.var comment
3. Check xbar plugin API docs for the list of valid var types

Example fix

// before
// <xbar.var>integer(VAR_COUNT=5): How many</xbar.var>
// after
// <xbar.var>number(VAR_COUNT=5): How many</xbar.var>

// before Parse: check var type keywords
valid := map[string]bool{"string": true, "number": true, "select": true, "checkbox": true}
re := regexp.MustCompile(`<xbar\.var>(\w+)\(`)
for _, m := range re.FindAllStringSubmatch(pluginSrc, -1) {
    if !valid[m[1]] {
        return fmt.Errorf("unsupported xbar.var type %q", m[1])
    }
}

// Go: detect the plain error text
if _, err := meta.Parse(src); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unknown xbar.var type") {
        return fmt.Errorf("fix plugin metadata: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Parse on plugin source whose `<xbar.var>TYPE(...)</xbar.var>` declaration uses a misspelled or unsupported type, e.g. `<xbar.var>str(VAR_X="v")</xbar.var>` or `<xbar.var>integer(VAR_N=5)</xbar.var>`.

Common situations: Typo in the type keyword; using a type from a different plugin ecosystem's schema; inventing a type (int, bool) that xbar metadata does not define.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• malformed xbar.var format (default not in select options)
• no plugin files
• malformed parameters: missing equals
• metadata.Parse
• missing xbar.title

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/435195fb3bad236a. Report an issue: GitHub.