BoundaryML/baml · error

Invalid allowed role metadata: {}. Allowed values are 'all'

Error message

Invalid allowed role metadata: {}. Allowed values are 'all' or 'none' or an array of roles.

What it means

The `allowed_role_metadata` value, when given as a single string, must be exactly 'all' or 'none'; anything else (when not an array of roles) is rejected. Arrays of roles are accepted via the Only variant.

Source

Thrown at engine/baml-lib/llm-client/src/clientspec.rs:476

    pub fn required_env_vars(&self) -> HashSet<String> {
        match self {
            Self::Value(role) => role.required_env_vars(),
            Self::Only(roles) => roles
                .iter()
                .flat_map(|role| role.required_env_vars())
                .collect(),
            _ => HashSet::new(),
        }
    }

    pub fn resolve(&self, ctx: &impl GetEnvVar) -> Result<AllowedRoleMetadata> {
        match self {
            Self::Value(role) => {
                let role = role.resolve(ctx)?;
                match role.as_str() {
                    "all" => Ok(AllowedRoleMetadata::All),
                    "none" => Ok(AllowedRoleMetadata::None),
                    _ => Err(anyhow::anyhow!("Invalid allowed role metadata: {}. Allowed values are 'all' or 'none' or an array of roles.", role)),
                }
            }
            Self::All => Ok(AllowedRoleMetadata::All),
            Self::None => Ok(AllowedRoleMetadata::None),
            Self::Only(roles) => Ok(AllowedRoleMetadata::Only(
                roles
                    .iter()
                    .map(|role| role.resolve(ctx))
                    .collect::<Result<Vec<_>>>()?,
            )),
        }
    }
}

impl AllowedRoleMetadata {
    pub fn is_allowed(&self, key: &str) -> bool {
        match self {
            Self::All => true,

View on GitHub (pinned to bd85ce9dee)

Solutions

1. Use the exact strings 'all' or 'none', or provide an array of roles.
2. Fix casing/typos in the metadata value.
3. If you meant a single role restriction, wrap it as a one-element array.

Example fix

// before
allowed_role_metadata "everything"
// after
allowed_role_metadata "all"
// or
allowed_role_metadata ["system", "user"]

if (typeof meta === "string" && !['all', 'none'].includes(meta) && !Array.isArray(meta)) {
  throw new Error(`allowed_role_metadata must be 'all', 'none', or an array, got: ${meta}`);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Resolving a prompt/chat role metadata attribute whose string value is neither 'all', 'none', nor a valid roles array — e.g. allowed_role_metadata "everything".

Common situations: Misspelling 'all'/'none' (wrong case, extra words) or passing a single role string where an array is expected.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• default_role must be one of 'system', 'user' or 'assistant':
• remap_role must be in allowed_roles: {}. Not found in {:?}
• script `{target}` has no `--function` and there is no implic
• test profile `{name}` was requested, but {} does not exist
• test profile `{name}` is not defined in {} (available: {avai

AI-assisted analysis of BoundaryML/baml@bd85ce9dee (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/40d6bbecca4d50cf. Report an issue: GitHub.