matryer/xbar · error

unsupported action %q

Error message

unsupported action %q

What it means

After the scheme check, parseIncomingURL extracts the action from the URL path and dispatches only on the three known actions: openPlugin, refreshPlugin, refreshAllPlugins. Anything else (empty path, typo, new/renamed action) falls to the default branch and is rejected with the offending action quoted, preventing arbitrary path traversal through the handler.

Source

Thrown at app/incoming_urls.go:34

// parseIncomingURL parses an incoming xbar:// URL.
func parseIncomingURL(urlStr string) (incomingURL, error) {
	var inURL incomingURL
	u, err := url.Parse(urlStr)
	if err != nil {
		return inURL, err
	}
	if u.Scheme != "xbar" && u.Host != "app.xbarapp.com" {
		return inURL, errors.New("not an xbar:// url")
	}
	inURL.Action = strings.Trim(u.Path, "/")
	inURL.Params = u.Query()
	switch inURL.Action {
	case "openPlugin":
	case "refreshPlugin":
	case "refreshAllPlugins":
	default: // not ok
		return inURL, errors.Errorf("unsupported action %q", inURL.Action)
	}
	return inURL, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to d624239058)

Solutions

1. Use one of the supported actions exactly: openPlugin, refreshPlugin, refreshAllPlugins
2. Include a non-empty path in the URL, e.g. xbar://refreshPlugin?path=/users/me/cpu.5s.sh
3. Match the case exactly — actions are lowercase
4. Check the app version supports the action you're linking to and update the link or app

Example fix

// before
parseIncomingURL("xbar://refresh-plugins?path=/cpu.5s.sh")
// after
parseIncomingURL("xbar://refreshPlugin?path=/cpu.5s.sh")

var validActions = map[string]bool{"openPlugin": true, "refreshPlugin": true, "refreshAllPlugins": true}

func hasKnownAction(raw string) bool {
	u, err := url.Parse(raw)
	if err != nil {
		return false
	}
	return validActions[strings.Trim(u.Path, "/")]
}

func isSupportedAction(action string) bool {
	return action == "openPlugin" || action == "refreshPlugin" || action == "refreshAllPlugins"
}

inURL, err := parseIncomingURL(raw)
if err != nil {
	var unsupported string
	if _, scan := fmt.Sscanf(err.Error(), "unsupported action %q", &unsupported); scan == nil {
		log.Printf("unknown deep-link action %q, ignoring", unsupported)
		return
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: parseIncomingURL called with a valid xbar:// URL whose trimmed path is not one of the three supported actions, e.g. xbar://openPlugins (typo), xbar:// (empty path), or xbar://installPlugin?path=... (unsupported action).

Common situations: Typos in action names when constructing deep links programmatically; forgetting the path entirely (xbar://?path=...); copying an action name from a newer or older app version where the action set differs; case sensitivity mistakes (OpenPlugin).

Related errors

• not an xbar:// url
• malformed xbar.var format
• malformed xbar.var format (missing select options)
• malformed xbar.var format (empty select options)
• disabled

AI-assisted analysis of matryer/xbar@d624239058 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/187a5c240c4d6e93. Report an issue: GitHub.