wagoodman/dive · error

failed to parse key %q: %w

Error message

failed to parse key %q: %w

What it means

Thrown by keybinding Config.Setup() when keybinding.ParseAll() cannot parse the configured key string. ParseAll splits the input on delimiters and translates each token into a gocui key; any unrecognized key name or modifier combination yields this error with the raw input quoted.

Source

Thrown at cmd/dive/cli/internal/ui/v1/key/config.go:20

import (
	"fmt"
	"github.com/awesome-gocui/keybinding"
)

type Config struct {
	Input string
	Keys  []keybinding.Key `yaml:"-" mapstructure:"-"`
}

func (c *Config) Setup() error {
	if len(c.Input) == 0 {
		return nil
	}

	parsed, err := keybinding.ParseAll(c.Input)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse key %q: %w", c.Input, err)
	}
	c.Keys = parsed
	return nil
}

type Bindings struct {
	Global     GlobalBindings     `yaml:",inline" mapstructure:",squash"`
	Navigation NavigationBindings `yaml:",inline" mapstructure:",squash"`
	Layer      LayerBindings      `yaml:",inline" mapstructure:",squash"`
	Filetree   FiletreeBindings   `yaml:",inline" mapstructure:",squash"`
}

type GlobalBindings struct {
	Quit             Config `yaml:"quit" mapstructure:"quit"`
	ToggleView       Config `yaml:"toggle-view" mapstructure:"toggle-view"`
	FilterFiles      Config `yaml:"filter-files" mapstructure:"filter-files"`
	CloseFilterFiles Config `yaml:"close-filter-files" mapstructure:"close-filter-files"`
}

View on GitHub (pinned to d6c691947f)

Solutions

1. Check the quoted input in the message and correct it to a single supported key spec such as 'tab', 'ctrl+t', 'f5', or 'ctrl+shift+d' as supported by the keybinding package.
2. Avoid tool-specific notation (<C-a>, cmd+); use dive's documented key names.
3. Test with one simple binding first, then restore the rest.
4. Reset the keybinding section to defaults and re-apply changes incrementally.

Example fix

# before (dive.yaml)
keybinding:
  global:
    quit: <C-c>   # vim-style -> failed to parse key "<C-c>"

# after
keybinding:
  global:
    quit: ctrl+c

# sanity-check key syntax before launch (dive uses gocui-style specs)
grep -E '(<C-|cmd\+|meta\+)' dive.yaml && echo "unsupported key notation" && exit 1 || true

When it happens

Trigger: A dive.yaml keybinding value with invalid key names or syntax: 'ctrl+shift+x' variants unsupported by the parser, typos like 'conrtol+a', platform-specific names ('cmd+f' on Linux), or stray characters after the key.

Common situations: Copy-pasting keybindings from another tool's config (vim/tmux syntax like '<C-a>'); macOS users porting cmd-based shortcuts; version changes that renamed keys.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• no keybinding configured for '%s'
• failed to unmarshal CI config file %s: %w
• unable to determine image source from %q: %v
• failed to read CI config file %s: %w
• controller failed update: %w

AI-assisted analysis of wagoodman/dive@d6c691947f (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb2d6646b84dd6b3. Report an issue: GitHub.