HKUDS/Vibe-Trading · error · ValueError

each local connection must be an object

Error message

each local connection must be an object

What it means

Raised while parsing persisted local-connection settings: an entry in the connections list is not a JSON object (e.g. it is a string, number, list, or null). _parse expects each serialized connection to be a dict with id/profile_id/label keys, so any other JSON value is rejected before field validation begins.

Source

Thrown at agent/src/trading/connections.py:303

        return result

    @staticmethod
    def _parse(raw: object) -> TradingConnection:
        """Validate one registry row.

        Args:
            raw: Decoded registry row.

        Returns:
            The validated connection.

        Raises:
            ValueError: If the row is not an object, carries an invalid id or
                label, names an unknown or ineligible profile, or claims a
                credential reference that does not match its transport.
        """
        if not isinstance(raw, dict):
            raise ValueError("each local connection must be an object")
        connection_id = str(raw.get("id") or "").strip().lower()
        if not _ID_RE.fullmatch(connection_id):
            raise ValueError(f"invalid local connection id: {connection_id or '?'}")
        profile_id = str(raw.get("profile_id") or "").strip().lower()
        profile = profile_by_id(profile_id)
        if not is_portfolio_connection_profile(profile):
            raise ValueError(
                f"connection profile is not eligible for read-only portfolios: {profile_id}"
            )
        label = str(raw.get("label") or profile.label).strip()
        if (
            not label
            or len(label) > 80
            or any(ord(character) < 32 for character in label)
        ):
            raise ValueError(
                "connection label must contain 1 to 80 printable characters"
            )

View on GitHub (pinned to 80ffdda44c)

Solutions

1. Open the settings file and make every element of the connections array a JSON object with at minimum id and profile_id
2. Remove stray/legacy non-object entries, then re-add them properly via store.create()
3. If the file is corrupted, back it up and let the store recreate a fresh one
4. Validate the file with a JSON schema or json.load plus an isinstance(item, dict) check before handing it to the store

Example fix

// before
{"connections": ["alpaca"]}

// after
{"connections": [{"id": "alpaca", "profile_id": "paper", "label": "Alpaca paper"}]}

import json
data = json.loads(path.read_text())
entries = data.get("connections", [])
if not all(isinstance(e, dict) for e in entries):
    raise ValueError("connections list contains non-object entries")

def is_connection_object(raw: object) -> bool:
    return isinstance(raw, dict)

try:
    store.list()
except ValueError as exc:
    if "must be an object" in str(exc):
        # locate and fix/remove the offending entry, then retry
        ...

When it happens

Trigger: Calling list() or save() on a store whose loaded settings contain a non-dict element in the connections array — e.g. ["alpaca", {...}], [null], or a bare string entry edited by hand.

Common situations: Hand-editing the connections settings file and accidentally leaving a stray string or comment-like entry; a partially written/corrupted settings file after a crash; migrating from an older format that allowed shorthands like plain connection names.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• invalid Alpaca config at {path}: {exc}
• invalid hypotheses storage JSON: {self.path}
• hypotheses storage must contain a JSON list
• sources must be a list
• each portfolio source must be an object

AI-assisted analysis of HKUDS/Vibe-Trading@80ffdda44c (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b07a2c72dbabe25e. Report an issue: GitHub.