What causes "the dist task requires --target" in sxyazi/yazi?

Pass an explicit target triple: `ya-build dist --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu`

the dist task requires --target

Error message

the dist task requires --target

What it means

The `dist` task produces distributable archives per platform, so it requires an explicit `--target` triple; the parser enforces this with `ensure!(!target.is_empty(), ...)` and fails with this error when it's missing.

Source

Thrown at yazi-build/src/args.rs:34

		let mut target = String::new();
		let mut bin_dir = PathBuf::new();
		while let Some(arg) = args.next() {
			match arg.to_str() {
				Some("--target") => target = Self::target(&mut args)?,
				Some("--bin-dir") => bin_dir = Self::value(&mut args, "--bin-dir")?.into(),
				Some("--help") => return Ok(Self::Help),
				_ => bail!("unknown option: {}", arg.display()),
			}
		}

		match task.to_str() {
			Some("build") => {
				ensure!(bin_dir.as_os_str().is_empty(), "--bin-dir is only valid for the install task");
				Ok(Self::Build(target))
			}
			Some("dist") => {
				ensure!(!target.is_empty(), "the dist task requires --target");
				ensure!(bin_dir.as_os_str().is_empty(), "--bin-dir is only valid for the install task");
				Ok(Self::Dest(target))
			}
			Some("install") => {
				ensure!(target.is_empty(), "--target is not valid for the install task");
				Ok(Self::Install(bin_dir))
			}
			Some("--help") => Ok(Self::Help),
			_ => bail!("unknown task: {}", task.display()),
		}
	}

	fn value(args: &mut impl Iterator<Item = OsString>, option: &str) -> Result<OsString> {
		args.next().with_context(|| format!("missing value for {option}"))
	}

	fn target(args: &mut impl Iterator<Item = OsString>) -> Result<String> {
		Self::value(args, "--target")?

View on GitHub (pinned to 5f901b886b)

Solutions

Pass an explicit target triple: `ya-build dist --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu`
Run `rustup target list-installed` to pick a valid triple
Use the `build` task instead if you only want a native host build

Example fix

// before
ya-build dist
// after
ya-build dist --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if task == "dist" && !args.contains(["--target"]) {
    eprintln!("dist requires --target <triple>, e.g. x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu");
    std::process::exit(2);
}

Try / catch

match parse_result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("the dist task requires --target") => {
        eprintln!("usage: ya-build dist --target <rust-target-triple>");
    }
    other => other,
}

Prevention

Always pass --target with dist; it never defaults to host
Validate triples against `rustup target list-installed`
Script dist calls with the triple as a required parameter

When it happens

Trigger: Running `ya-build dist` without `--target <triple>` — the parser reaches the "dist" arm with an empty target.

Common situations: Forgetting the cross-compile target when packaging releases; assuming dist defaults to the host target (it does not).

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of sxyazi/yazi@5f901b886b (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/149015583b1287b0. Report an issue: GitHub.