podman-container-tools/podman · error · Exception

'{matchobj[0]}' does not match 'pod' in either side

Error message

'{matchobj[0]}' does not match 'pod' in either side

What it means

Raised by replace_type()'s replwith() callback when neither side of a '<<lhs|rhs>>' token matches '.*pod([^m]|$)' case-insensitively. Every <<a|b>> token is required to disambiguate a pod-specific vs container-specific phrasing; 'pod' must appear in exactly one half. Typos like 'podd', 'Pod.' (actually 'Pod.' matches: d follows), 'containr pod' — the real non-matches are sides where 'pod' is absent or only occurs inside the word 'podman'.

Source

Thrown at hack/markdown-preprocess:264

            lhs = lhs[2:]
            rhs = rhs[:len(rhs)-2]

            # Check both sides for 'pod' followed by (non-"m" or end-of-string).
            # The non-m prevents us from triggering on 'podman', which could
            # conceivably be present in both sides. And we check for 'pod',
            # not 'container', because it's possible to have something like
            # <<container in pod|container>>.
            if re.match('.*pod([^m]|$)', lhs, re.IGNORECASE):
                if re.match('.*pod([^m]|$)', rhs, re.IGNORECASE):
                    raise Exception(f"'{matchobj[0]}' matches 'pod' in both left and right sides")
                # Only left-hand side has "pod"
                if self.pod_or_container == 'pod':
                    return lhs
                return rhs

            # 'pod' not in lhs, must be in rhs
            if not re.match('.*pod([^m]|$)', rhs, re.IGNORECASE):
                raise Exception(f"'{matchobj[0]}' does not match 'pod' in either side")
            if self.pod_or_container == 'pod':
                return rhs
            return lhs

        return re.sub(r'<<[^\|>]*\|[^\|>]*>>', replwith, line)


def main():
    "script entry point"
    script_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
    man_dir = os.path.join(script_dir,"../docs/source/markdown")

    try:
        os.chdir(man_dir)
    except FileNotFoundError as ex:
        raise Exception("Please invoke me from the base repo dir") from ex

    # No longer possible to invoke us with args: reject any such invocation

View on GitHub (pinned to a2409076ef)

Solutions

1. Restructure so one half contains 'pod' (not as part of 'podman'): '<<pod foo|container foo>>'
2. If no pod/container distinction is intended, remove the << >> and write plain text

Example fix

# before
<<run in the sandbox|run in the sandbox>>

# after
run in the sandbox

import re, pathlib, sys
pat = re.compile(r'<<[^|>]*\|[^|>]*>>')
pod = re.compile(r'.*pod([^m]|$)', re.IGNORECASE)
bad = []
for p in pathlib.Path('docs/source/markdown/options').glob('*.md'):
    for line_no, line in enumerate(p.read_text().splitlines(), 1):
        for tok in pat.findall(line):
            lhs, rhs = tok[2:-2].split('|')
            if not pod.match(lhs) and not pod.match(rhs):
                bad.append(f'{p}:{line_no}: pod in neither side: {tok}')
if bad:
    sys.exit('\n'.join(bad))

When it happens

Trigger: An options/*.md line contains '<<foo|bar>>' with no 'pod' substring outside 'podman' in either half — e.g. '<<list the pods|>>' style mistakes aside, typically '<<--podman-opt|--podman-option>>' (only 'podman' present) or a token written purely for emphasis. Errors surface wrapped in the 'Error while processing ... line' wrapper from process().

Common situations: Authors using <<a|b>> as a generic alternation/emphasis marker instead of the pod-vs-container switch; both sides written with 'podman' prefixed wording; leftover experimental tokens in shared option files.

Related errors

• '{matchobj[0]}' matches 'pod' in both left and right sides
• undefined variable: {name}
• `else` without `if`
• multiple `else` in the same `if`
• `end` without `if`

AI-assisted analysis of podman-container-tools/podman@a2409076ef (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/34cb8b3c9e344bd3. Report an issue: GitHub.