Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

agent profile {} model must be a visible model id without wh

Error message

agent profile {} model must be a visible model id without whitespace or secrets

What it means

validate_agent_profile_model_hint checks the profile's model field with is_model_hint: every character must be ASCII graphic except '=', '\'' and '"'. The quote/equals ban exists so API keys and quoted ids cannot ride along inside a profile. The loader trims and drops blank model values first, so this error fires on inner whitespace, quotes, or '=' characters.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/fleet/profile.rs:482

    let trimmed = value.trim();
    if trimmed.is_empty() {
        bail!("agent profile {} {field} cannot be empty", path.display());
    }
    if trimmed != value || !trimmed.chars().all(is_agent_profile_token_char) {
        bail!(
            "agent profile {} {field} must be a simple token",
            path.display()
        );
    }
    Ok(())
}

fn validate_agent_profile_model_hint(path: &Path, value: Option<&str>) -> Result<()> {
    let Some(value) = value else {
        return Ok(());
    };
    if !is_model_hint(value) {
        bail!(
            "agent profile {} model must be a visible model id without whitespace or secrets",
            path.display()
        );
    }
    Ok(())
}

/// Validate an explicit `provider` field as a safe provider id (#4093).
///
/// Built-in providers are accepted by the runtime vocabulary, and user-named
/// OpenAI-compatible custom providers are accepted as simple tokens so the
/// launch path can resolve `[providers.<id>]` from the session config (#3965).
/// This field remains the ONLY place a profile's provider is established:
/// callers never infer it from `model` (EPIC #2608).
fn validate_agent_profile_provider(path: &Path, value: &str) -> Result<()> {
    let trimmed = value.trim();
    if trimmed.is_empty() {
        bail!("agent profile {} provider cannot be empty", path.display());

View on GitHub (pinned to 0c42157ee5)

Solutions

1. Set model to a bare model id with no surrounding quotes, e.g. model = "gpt-4o"
2. Remove any whitespace, '=' or quote characters from the value - keep only visible printable characters
3. Store credentials in the provider config ([providers.<id>]), never in the profile's model field

Example fix

# before
model = "'claude-sonnet-4'"

# after
model = "claude-sonnet-4"

fn is_model_hint(value: &str) -> bool {
    let t = value.trim();
    !t.is_empty()
        && t == value
        && t.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_graphic() && !matches!(c, '=' | '\'' | '"'))
}
// assert is_model_hint(model) before writing the profile or calling load

fn is_visible_model_id(s: &str) -> bool {
    let t = s.trim();
    !t.is_empty() && t == s
        && t.chars().all(|c| c.is_ascii_graphic() && !matches!(c, '=' | '\'' | '"'))
}

match load_agent_profile_file(&path) {
    Ok(p) => Ok(p),
    Err(err) if err.to_string().contains("visible model id") => {
        Err(anyhow!("profile {path:?}: model must be a bare id - no quotes, spaces, or '='"))
    }
    Err(err) => Err(err),
}

When it happens

Trigger: model = "gpt-4o (preview)" (inner space), model = "'claude-sonnet-4'" (quotes pasted from docs), model = "gpt-4o key=abc" (equals sign / embedded key material), or any model id containing a non-printable or non-ASCII character.

Common situations: Copying a model id that was quoted in documentation or a changelog; accidentally appending provider credentials to the model string; model ids with parenthetical suffixes.

Related errors

• provider auth source secret must include secret_id
• agent profile {} {field} cannot be empty
• agent profile {} {field} must be a simple token
• agent profile {} provider cannot be empty
• agent profile {} provider must be a simple provider id

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@0c42157ee5 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b44d9bfcc391bcd8. Report an issue: GitHub.