xai-org/grok-build · error

refusing to rewrite unparseable {}: {e}

Error message

refusing to rewrite unparseable {}: {e}

What it means

clear_sticky_project_disabled_at uses toml_edit::DocumentMut so comments and formatting survive edits. If the existing file fails to parse as TOML, the library refuses to rewrite it — deliberately avoiding destroying a hand-maintained (or partially corrupted) config, and instead throws this error naming the file and parse error.

Source

Thrown at crates/codegen/xai-grok-shell/src/util/config/mcp.rs:827

        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("failed to write {}: {e}", path.display()))?;
    Ok(true)
}

/// Flip sticky project `enabled = false` → true with toml_edit (comments kept).
async fn clear_sticky_project_disabled_at(
    path: &std::path::Path,
    server_name: &str,
) -> Result<bool> {
    let original = match tokio::fs::read_to_string(path).await {
        Ok(s) => s,
        Err(e) if e.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => return Ok(false),
        Err(e) => {
            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("failed to read {}: {e}", path.display()));
        }
    };
    let mut doc: toml_edit::DocumentMut = original
        .parse()
        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("refusing to rewrite unparseable {}: {e}", path.display()))?;

    let Some(servers) = doc
        .get_mut("mcp_servers")
        .and_then(|item| item.as_table_like_mut())
    else {
        return Ok(false);
    };
    let Some(entry) = servers.get_mut(server_name) else {
        return Ok(false);
    };
    let Some(server_table) = entry.as_table_like_mut() else {
        return Ok(false);
    };
    if server_table.get("enabled").and_then(|v| v.as_bool()) != Some(false) {
        return Ok(false);
    }
    server_table.insert("enabled", toml_edit::value(true));

View on GitHub (pinned to bc7f02eddd)

Solutions

1. Run a TOML linter/parser on the file and fix the reported syntax error
2. Remove merge-conflict markers or restore the file from version control
3. If the file is disposable, delete it and let the tool regenerate a clean config
4. Re-run the command once the file parses

Example fix

// before (config.toml)
<<<<<<< HEAD
[mcp_servers.foo]
// after (config.toml)
[mcp_servers.foo]
enabled = false

// validate before letting toml_edit touch the file
let src = std::fs::read_to_string(path)?;
if src.contains("<<<<<<<") {
    return Err("merge conflict markers in config".into());
}
let _doc: toml_edit::DocumentMut = src.parse().map_err(|e| format!("invalid TOML: {e}"))?;

fn parses_as_toml(src: &str) -> bool {
    src.parse::<toml_edit::DocumentMut>().is_ok()
}

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().starts_with("refusing to rewrite unparseable") => {
        eprintln!("fix TOML syntax in the named file or restore from VCS: {e}");
    }
    r => r?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: save_mcp_server_enabled_in / enable_unstick_only_touches_nearest_project_definition / restore_mcp_server_enabled_after_enable_scopes_tiers encounter a project config file containing invalid TOML (unclosed string, duplicate key, bad syntax).

Common situations: Manual edits with typos; a merge conflict marker left in the file (<<<<<<<); truncated write from a crash; an editor saving non-UTF8 or garbled content.

Related errors

• Failed to parse config.toml: {e}
• refusing to write import marker: existing config at {} is no
• refusing to import: existing config at {} is not valid TOML
• refusing to overwrite unparseable {}: {}; fix the syntax bef
• refusing to overwrite unparseable {}: {}; save a backup and

AI-assisted analysis of xai-org/grok-build@bc7f02eddd (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/28c2d918de1abe96. Report an issue: GitHub.