vitejs/vite · error · Error

`input` cannot contain glob characters. They are reserved…

Error message

`input` cannot contain glob characters. They are reserved, so the ${JSON.stringify(value)} is not allowed. Please escape them with a backslash (\)

What it means

When Vite normalizes build.rollupOptions.input it calls unescapeGlobCharacters, which uses isDynamicPattern to detect glob metacharacters (* ? [ ] { } ( ) ! + @ |). Because input keys are reserved for future glob support, Vite throws rather than silently misinterpreting them. The fix is to backslash-escape any literal metacharacter.

Solutions

1. Backslash-escape each metacharacter in the input string, e.g. 'src/entries/\[name\].ts'.
2. Rename the source file to avoid glob metacharacters if you control it.
3. Pass input as an object whose values are escaped paths.

Example fix

// before
build: { rollupOptions: { input: 'src/entries/[name].ts' } }
// after
build: { rollupOptions: { input: 'src/entries/\\[name\\].ts' } }

const globChars = /[*?\[\]{}()!+@|]/;
function validateInput(value) {
  const vals = Array.isArray(value) ? value : typeof value === 'object' ? Object.values(value) : [value];
  return vals.map((v) => ({ value: v, ok: !globChars.test(String(v)) }));
}

function isGlobFree(value) {
  const vals = Array.isArray(value) ? value : typeof value === 'object' ? Object.values(value) : [value];
  return vals.every((v) => !/[*?\[\]{}()!+@|]/.test(String(v)));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing an input path that contains a literal *, ?, [], {}, etc. - e.g. a file named 'config[dev].ts' or 'v1@2.ts'. Most often from generated filenames or path templates.

Common situations: Build pipelines that pass parameterized paths (e.g. 'src/entries/[name].ts'); monorepo tools that produce bracketed paths; Windows builds with weird artifact names.

Related errors

• Environment " " is not defined in the config.
• failed to resolve rolldownOptions.input value
• Invalid glob: " " (resolved: " "). It must start with '/'…
• invalid rolldownOptions.input value.
• Multiple entry points are not supported when output formats…

AI-assisted analysis of vitejs/vite@b4d66fee14 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/04cea1d7270cd2a2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/vite/src/node/config.ts:952

  if (typeof input === 'string') {
    return unescapeGlobCharacters(input)
  }
  if (Array.isArray(input)) {
    return input.map(unescapeGlobCharacters)
  }
  const resolved: Record<string, string> = {}
  for (const key in input) {
    resolved[key] = unescapeGlobCharacters(input[key])
  }
  return resolved
}

const escapedGlobCharactersRE = /\\([*?[\]{}()!+@|])/g

function unescapeGlobCharacters(value: string): string {
  if (isDynamicPattern(value)) {
    // so that it could later be changed to accept globs without a breaking change
    throw new Error(
      `\`input\` cannot contain glob characters. They are reserved, ` +
        `so the ${JSON.stringify(value)} is not allowed. Please escape them with a backslash (\\)`,
    )
  }
  // unescape glob characters
  return value.replace(escapedGlobCharactersRE, '$1')
}

export function resolveDevEnvironmentOptions(
  dev: DevEnvironmentOptions | undefined,
  environmentName: string | undefined,
  consumer: 'client' | 'server' | undefined,
  // Backward compatibility
  preTransformRequest?: boolean,
): ResolvedDevEnvironmentOptions {
  const resolved = mergeWithDefaults(
    {
      ...configDefaults.dev,

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