3 files changed, 38 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/xmake/core/base/interpreter.lua b/xmake/core/base/interpreter.lua
index bcf446309..83bbdf593 100644
--- a/xmake/core/base/interpreter.lua
+++ b/xmake/core/base/interpreter.lua
@@ -32,12 +32,29 @@ local scopeinfo  = require("base/scopeinfo")
 local deprecated = require("base/deprecated")
 local sandbox    = require("sandbox/sandbox")
 
+-- the rules to reword the raw lua error messages into friendly ones, {pattern, replacement}
+-- e.g. "attempt to call a nil value (global 'test')" -> "unknown interface: test()"
+local _reword_rules = {{
+    "attempt to call a nil value %(global '([%w_]+)'%)",
+    "unknown interface: %1(), please check the api name or its scope"}
+}
+
 -- raise without interpreter stack
 -- @see https://github.com/xmake-io/xmake/issues/3553
 function interpreter._raise(errors)
     os.raise("[nobacktrace]: " .. (errors or ""))
 end
 
+-- reword the raw error message to make it more friendly
+function interpreter._reword_errors(errors)
+    if type(errors) == "string" then
+        for _, rule in ipairs(_reword_rules) do
+            errors = errors:gsub(rule[1], rule[2], 1)
+        end
+    end
+    return errors
+end
+
 -- traceback
 function interpreter._traceback(errors)
 
@@ -49,6 +66,9 @@ function interpreter._traceback(errors)
         end
     end
 
+    -- reword the raw error message to make it more friendly
+    errors = interpreter._reword_errors(errors)
+
     -- init results
     local results = ""
     if errors then
diff --git a/xmake/core/main.lua b/xmake/core/main.lua
index f3ad904f5..0c38840de 100644
--- a/xmake/core/main.lua
+++ b/xmake/core/main.lua
@@ -304,6 +304,13 @@ function main.entry()
         return main._exit(ok, errors)
     end
 
+    -- the project file failed to load when building the option menu? report it and exit now,
+    -- so that we do not continue into config/build and print the same error again later
+    local menu_load_error = project.menu_load_error()
+    if menu_load_error then
+        return main._exit(false, menu_load_error)
+    end
+
     if xmake.in_main_thread() then
 
         -- check run command as root
diff --git a/xmake/core/project/project.lua b/xmake/core/project/project.lua
index ff770ced0..d1030f130 100644
--- a/xmake/core/project/project.lua
+++ b/xmake/core/project/project.lua
@@ -1324,6 +1324,11 @@ function project.mtimes()
     return mtimes
 end
 
+-- get the error of loading the project file when building the option menu
+function project.menu_load_error()
+    return project._memcache():get("menu_load_error")
+end
+
 -- get the project menu
 function project.menu()
 
@@ -1341,7 +1346,12 @@ function project.menu()
 
     -- failed?
     if not options then
-        if errors then utils.error(errors) end
+        -- record the error and let main() report it once and exit, instead of continuing into
+        -- config/build and reporting it again. we cannot abort here directly, because we are inside
+        -- the sandboxed menu loader, which would wrap the clean error with extra prefixes.
+        if errors then
+            project._memcache():set("menu_load_error", errors)
+        end
         return {}
     end