sharkdp/fd · error · anyhow::Error

more than one ':' present in owner string '{}'. See 'fd --he

Error message

more than one ':' present in owner string '{}'. See 'fd --help'.

What it means

Thrown by OwnerFilter::from_string in src/filter/owner.rs:32 when the --owner argument, split on ':', yields more than two segments. The owner grammar is strictly '[!]user:[!]group' — a single colon separates uid from gid; anything with two or more colons is unparseable.

Source

Thrown at src/filter/owner.rs:32

    NotEq(T),
    Ignore,
}

impl OwnerFilter {
    const IGNORE: Self = OwnerFilter {
        uid: Check::Ignore,
        gid: Check::Ignore,
    };

    /// Parses an owner constraint
    /// Returns an error if the string is invalid
    /// Returns Ok(None) when string is acceptable but a noop (such as "" or ":")
    pub fn from_string(input: &str) -> Result<Self> {
        let mut it = input.split(':');
        let (fst, snd) = (it.next(), it.next());

        if it.next().is_some() {
            return Err(anyhow!(
                "more than one ':' present in owner string '{}'. See 'fd --help'.",
                input
            ));
        }

        let uid = Check::parse(fst, |s| {
            if let Ok(uid) = s.parse() {
                Ok(uid)
            } else {
                User::from_name(s)?
                    .map(|user| user.uid.as_raw())
                    .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("'{}' is not a recognized user name", s))
            }
        })?;
        let gid = Check::parse(snd, |s| {
            if let Ok(gid) = s.parse() {
                Ok(gid)
            } else {

View on GitHub (pinned to 41532d114e)

Solutions

1. Use exactly one colon: 'fd --owner alice:developers'.
2. Negate either side with leading '!' rather than extra colons: 'fd --owner !alice:!root'.
3. Omit the side you don't care about: 'fd --owner alice' (uid only) or 'fd --owner :developers' (gid only).

Example fix

// before
fd --owner 1000:1000:

// after
fd --owner 1000:1000

if [ "$(printf '%s' "$OWNER" | tr -cd ':' | wc -c)" -gt 1 ]; then
  echo "--owner must contain at most one ':'" >&2; exit 1
fi
fd --owner "$OWNER"

fn has_at_most_one_colon(s: &str) -> bool {
    s.matches(':').count() <= 1
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing 'fd --owner 3:5:', 'fd --owner ::', 'fd --owner a:b:c', or any value where split(':').count() > 2.

Common situations: Typing a Windows-style drive path by mistake; copy-pasting a 'user:group:extra' triple; trying to chain multiple uid constraints in one flag.

Related errors

• '{}' is not a recognized user name
• '{}' is not a recognized group name
• '{}' is not a valid size constraint. See 'fd --help'.
• '{}' is not a valid date or duration. See 'fd --help'.
• Unable to get shell from environment

AI-assisted analysis of sharkdp/fd@41532d114e (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/3688fc95f02a337c.json. Report an issue: GitHub.