sxyazi/yazi · error

not a boolean

Error message

not a boolean

What it means

`TryFrom<&Data> for bool` converts a dynamic Data value into a boolean, accepting `Data::Boolean` and the string literals `"yes"`/`"no"`. Any other Data variant or string content is rejected with the terse 'not a boolean' error.

Source

Thrown at yazi-shared/src/data/data.rs:102

impl<T> FromIterator<T> for Data
where
	T: Into<Self>,
{
	fn from_iter<I: IntoIterator<Item = T>>(iter: I) -> Self {
		Self::List(iter.into_iter().map(Into::into).collect())
	}
}

impl TryFrom<&Data> for bool {
	type Error = anyhow::Error;

	fn try_from(value: &Data) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
		match value {
			Data::Boolean(b) => Ok(*b),
			Data::String(s) if s == "no" => Ok(false),
			Data::String(s) if s == "yes" => Ok(true),
			_ => bail!("not a boolean"),
		}
	}
}

impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a Data> for &'a str {
	type Error = anyhow::Error;

	fn try_from(value: &'a Data) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
		match value {
			Data::String(s) => Ok(s),
			_ => bail!("not a string"),
		}
	}
}

impl<'a> TryFrom<Data> for Cow<'a, str> {
	type Error = anyhow::Error;

View on GitHub (pinned to 5f901b886b)

Solutions

1. Ensure the value is an actual boolean or the exact strings `"yes"`/`"no"`
2. Convert the source value to a boolean before storing it in Data
3. Handle the Err case with a fallback via `.unwrap_or(false)` or report a clearer message

Example fix

// before
let b: bool = data.try_into()?;
// after
let b: bool = data.try_into().unwrap_or(false); // or normalize "true"/"false" upstream

fn as_bool(d: &Data) -> Option<bool> {
    match d {
        Data::Boolean(b) => Some(*b),
        Data::String(s) => match s.as_str() { "yes" => Some(true), "no" => Some(false), _ => None },
        _ => None,
    }
}

fn is_bool_like(d: &Data) -> bool {
    matches!(d, Data::Boolean(_)) || matches!(d, Data::String(s) if s == "yes" || s == "no")
}

let flag = bool::try_from(&data).unwrap_or_else(|_| {
    tracing::warn!("expected boolean, got {data:?}");
    false
});

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `.try_into()`/`bool::try_from(&data)` on Data holding a number, list, or any string other than exactly `yes`/`no`, e.g. converting a Lua value that was `true`/`1`/`"true"`.

Common situations: Plugin data passed from Lua where booleans became strings like `"true"`; config values written as `enabled = "maybe"`; expecting numeric truthiness coercion that this conversion does not perform.

Related errors

• not a string
• Cannot construct system event
• Kind `{kind}` must be in kebab-case
• invalid file type: {value:04o}
• not a list of Files

AI-assisted analysis of sxyazi/yazi@5f901b886b (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cc6d26af66ecb958. Report an issue: GitHub.