BoundaryML/baml · error · ManifestError

{path}: `[package]` is missing `name = "<your-project-name>"

Error message

{path}: `[package]` is missing `name = "<your-project-name>"`.

What it means

A `ManifestError` variant. The manifest has a `[package]` table but it lacks the required `name` key, so the package's identity cannot be resolved. The message names the file and shows the expected syntax `name = "<your-project-name>"`.

Source

Thrown at baml_language/crates/baml_db/src/manifest.rs:187

    pub max_typed_union_arity: Option<Spanned<i64>>,

    #[serde(flatten)]
    pub unknown: IndexMap<String, toml::Value>,
}

/// Parse `baml.toml` text into the typed manifest.
pub fn parse(content: &str) -> Result<BamlToml, toml::de::Error> {
    toml::from_str(content)
}

/// Why a manifest's `[package].name` could not be resolved.
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, thiserror::Error)]
pub enum ManifestError {
    #[error(
        "{path}: missing `[package]` table.\nAdd:\n\n    [package]\n    name = \"<your-project-name>\"\n"
    )]
    MissingPackageTable { path: std::path::PathBuf },
    #[error("{path}: `[package]` is missing `name = \"<your-project-name>\"`.")]
    MissingPackageName { path: std::path::PathBuf },
    #[error("{path}: `[package].name` cannot be empty.")]
    EmptyPackageName { path: std::path::PathBuf },
    #[error(
        "{path}: `[dependencies]` is not supported in a project manifest yet: package imports are \
         pending a design pass. Remove the table; a project reaches the standard library implicitly."
    )]
    DependenciesUnsupported { path: std::path::PathBuf },
    #[error(
        "{path}: `[package].prelude` is reserved for the standard library's own manifests. Remove it."
    )]
    PreludeUnsupported { path: std::path::PathBuf },
}

/// Refuse the manifest tables only the standard library's own manifests may
/// carry. Package imports are not user surface area until they get a design
/// pass, so a project manifest with `[dependencies]` (or the stdlib-only
/// `[package].prelude`) is an error, not a silently ignored table.

View on GitHub (pinned to bd85ce9dee)

Solutions

1. Add `name = "<your-project-name>"` inside the `[package]` table at the reported path.
2. Choose a non-empty, valid package name.
3. Re-run the load to confirm the manifest now resolves.

Example fix

// before
[package]
version = "0.1.0"
// after
[package]
name = "my-project"
version = "0.1.0"

fn manifest_has_name(raw: &str) -> bool {
    raw.parse::<toml::Value>().ok()
        .and_then(|v| v.get("package")?.get("name").cloned())
        .is_some()
}

match load_manifest(path) {
    Err(ManifestError::MissingPackageName { path }) => eprintln!("{path:?}: [package] needs name = \"...\""),
    Err(e) => eprintln!("manifest error: {e}"),
    Ok(m) => m,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a manifest whose `[package]` table omits `name` — e.g. `[package]\nversion = "0.1.0"` with no name.

Common situations: Manually editing the manifest and deleting the name line; scaffolding tools generating partial tables; merge conflicts that drop a key.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• {path}: missing `[package]` table. Add: [package] n
• {path}: `[package].name` cannot be empty.
• {path}: `[dependencies]` is not supported in a project manif
• {} uses reserved table `[__baml_codegen]`; remove it because
• {path}: `[package].prelude` is reserved for the standard lib

AI-assisted analysis of BoundaryML/baml@bd85ce9dee (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/78601f0aa8de9121. Report an issue: GitHub.