Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · anyhow::Error

Invalid sandbox_mode '{mode}': expected read-only, workspace

Error message

Invalid sandbox_mode '{mode}': expected read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access, or external-sandbox.

What it means

Config::validate() restricts sandbox_mode to read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access, or external-sandbox (trim + lowercase normalized). This is a security-sensitive enum: a misspelled mode must fail closed rather than silently default to a weaker sandbox.

Source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/config.rs:4438

            ) {
                anyhow::bail!(
                    "Invalid approval_policy '{policy}': expected on-request, untrusted, never, auto, or suggest."
                );
            }
        }
        if let Some(v) = self.verbosity.as_deref() {
            let normalized = v.trim().to_ascii_lowercase();
            if !matches!(normalized.as_str(), "normal" | "concise") {
                anyhow::bail!("Invalid verbosity '{v}': expected normal or concise.");
            }
        }
        if let Some(mode) = self.sandbox_mode.as_deref() {
            let normalized = mode.trim().to_ascii_lowercase();
            if !matches!(
                normalized.as_str(),
                "read-only" | "workspace-write" | "danger-full-access" | "external-sandbox"
            ) {
                anyhow::bail!(
                    "Invalid sandbox_mode '{mode}': expected read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access, or external-sandbox."
                );
            }
        }
        if let Some(tui) = &self.tui
            && let Some(mode) = tui.alternate_screen.as_deref()
        {
            let mode = mode.to_ascii_lowercase();
            if !matches!(mode.as_str(), "auto" | "always" | "never") {
                anyhow::bail!(
                    "Invalid tui.alternate_screen '{mode}': expected auto, always, or never."
                );
            }
        }
        if let Some(auto_review) = &self.auto_review {
            auto_review.validate()?;
        }
        if let Some(providers) = &self.providers {

View on GitHub (pinned to 8880682c63)

Solutions

Use exactly one of: read-only, workspace-write, danger-full-access, external-sandbox.
Pick read-only or workspace-write unless you explicitly need danger-full-access.
Re-validate the config after the edit.

Example fix

# before
sandbox_mode = "full-access"

# after
sandbox_mode = "danger-full-access"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn sandbox_mode_is_valid(raw: &str) -> bool {
    matches!(
        raw.trim().to_ascii_lowercase().as_str(),
        "read-only" | "workspace-write" | "danger-full-access" | "external-sandbox"
    )
}

if let Some(m) = &config.sandbox_mode {
    anyhow::ensure!(sandbox_mode_is_valid(m), "unknown sandbox_mode");
}

Type guard

fn is_valid_sandbox_mode(raw: &str) -> bool {
    matches!(
        raw.trim().to_ascii_lowercase().as_str(),
        "read-only" | "workspace-write" | "danger-full-access" | "external-sandbox"
    )
}

Try / catch

if let Err(e) = config.validate() {
    let msg = e.to_string();
    if msg.starts_with("Invalid sandbox_mode") {
        // fail closed: never guess a mode; prompt the user to pick from the allowed list
        return Err(e);
    }
}

Prevention

Treat sandbox_mode typos as security incidents, not cosmetic ones — fix before running.
Default to read-only/workspace-write; require an explicit review to reach danger-full-access.
CI-lint the value against the four-element allowlist.

When it happens

Trigger: Typing sandbox_mode = "write", "full", "none", "full-access", or "danger-full" in config.toml; using a value from an older release whose vocabulary differed.

Common situations: Muscle-memory abbreviations from other tools' sandbox flags; hardening review copies a half-remembered mode name; config synced from a version with a different enum.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@8880682c63 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2ba669a2777f00a0. Report an issue: GitHub.