AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome · error

decoding bool: %w

Error message

decoding bool: %w

What it means

Returned by parseDHCPOptionBool when a DHCP option typed bool fails strconv.ParseBool. Accepted literals are exactly: 1, t, T, TRUE, true, True, 0, f, F, FALSE, false, False. Anything else (yes/no, on/off) is rejected.

Source

Thrown at internal/dhcpd/options_unix.go:115

	}

	switch bitSize {
	case 8:
		return dhcpv4.OptionGeneric{Data: []byte{uint8(v)}}, nil
	case 16:
		return dhcpv4.Uint16(v), nil
	default:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unsupported size of integer %d", bitSize)
	}
}

// parseDHCPOptionBool parses a DHCP option as a boolean value.  See
// [strconv.ParseBool] for available values.
func parseDHCPOptionBool(s string) (val dhcpv4.OptionValue, err error) {
	var v bool
	v, err = strconv.ParseBool(s)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decoding bool: %w", err)
	}

	rawVal := [1]byte{}
	if v {
		rawVal[0] = 1
	}

	return dhcpv4.OptionGeneric{Data: rawVal[:]}, nil
}

// parseDHCPOptionVal parses a DHCP option value considering typ.
func parseDHCPOptionVal(typ, valStr string) (val dhcpv4.OptionValue, err error) {
	switch typ {
	case typBool:
		val, err = parseDHCPOptionBool(valStr)
	case typDel:
		val = dhcpv4.OptionGeneric{Data: nil}
	case typDur:

View on GitHub (pinned to b41aefbe51)

Solutions

1. Replace yes/no and on/off with true/false
2. Use the exact literals accepted by strconv.ParseBool (safest: true and false)
3. Quote the value in JSON/YAML to avoid boolean-coercion surprises

Example fix

// before
{"code":44,"type":"bool","value":"yes"}
// -> decoding bool: strconv.ParseBool: parsing "yes": invalid syntax

// after
{"code":44,"type":"bool","value":"true"}

func boolOK(s string) bool {
	_, err := strconv.ParseBool(s)
	return err == nil
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting a boolean DHCP option with value 'yes', 'no', 'on', 'off', or an empty string.

Common situations: Operators habitually typing yes/no from other config systems; UI auto-completing 'on'; YAML configs where unquoted on/off parse as strings here.

Related errors

• decoding hex: %w
• parsing ip at index %d: %w
• decoding dur: %w
• decoding u%d: %w
• unknown option type %q

AI-assisted analysis of AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome@b41aefbe51 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/baf6aa50560aa7e4. Report an issue: GitHub.