Intervention/image · error · InvalidArgumentException

Image source must be of type SplFileInfo

Error message

Image source must be of type SplFileInfo

What it means

SplFileInfoImageDecoder only accepts SplFileInfo objects; decode() throws InvalidArgumentException immediately for any other value. Through ImageManager this decoder is auto-selected only for SplFileInfo input, so hitting it usually means invoking the decoder manually or forcing it via the decoders argument of decode().

Source

Thrown at src/Drivers/Gd/Decoders/SplFileInfoImageDecoder.php:50

    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     *
     * @see DecoderInterface::decode()
     *
     * @throws InvalidArgumentException
     * @throws ImageDecoderException
     * @throws DriverException
     * @throws StateException
     * @throws DirectoryNotFoundException
     * @throws FileNotFoundException
     * @throws FileNotReadableException
     */
    public function decode(mixed $input): ImageInterface
    {
        if (!$input instanceof SplFileInfo) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException('Image source must be of type ' . SplFileInfo::class);
        }

        try {
            return parent::decode(self::filePathFromSplFileInfoOrFail($input));
        } catch (DecoderException) {
            throw new ImageDecoderException(SplFileInfo::class . ' contains unsupported image type');
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 5598b9e397)

Solutions

1. Pass an SplFileInfo instance: new SplFileInfo($path)
2. Or pass the plain path and let the automatic decoder chain select FilePathImageDecoder
3. Use $manager->decodeSplFileInfo($splFileInfo) for explicit, typed entry

Example fix

// before
$image = $manager->decode($path, SplFileInfoImageDecoder::class); // InvalidArgumentException

// after
$image = $manager->decode(new SplFileInfo($path), SplFileInfoImageDecoder::class);
// or simply: $image = $manager->read($path);

if (!$input instanceof SplFileInfo) {
    $input = new SplFileInfo((string) $input);
}
$image = $manager->decodeSplFileInfo($input);

function isSplFileInfo(mixed $value): bool
{
    return $value instanceof SplFileInfo;
}

try {
    $image = $decoder->decode($input);
} catch (InvalidArgumentException $e) {
    // input was not an SplFileInfo; wrap it and retry
}

When it happens

Trigger: $manager->decode($path, SplFileInfoImageDecoder::class) with a plain string, or (new SplFileInfoImageDecoder($driver))->decode('image.png') called directly.

Common situations: Porting code that mixes path strings with SplFileInfo, passing a string to a helper documented to build SplFileInfo, forcing a specific decoder as the second decode() argument.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid argument type errors: "must be of type string", "expected X, got Y", and ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE explained — this error's family across 15 libraries.

Related errors

• Color object must be of type {ColorInterface::class}
• Base64-encoded data must be either of type string or instanc
• Unsupported image source type "{type}"
• Unsupported media type (MIME) ${mediaType}.
• Failed to read media (MIME) type from data in file path

AI-assisted analysis of Intervention/image@5598b9e397 (2026-08-23). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2a69ee817f4ef400. Report an issue: GitHub.