Kareadita/Kavita · warning · KavitaException

Name must be set

Error message

Name must be set

What it means

Thrown by FilterController.ValidateAndSaveFilterUpsert when the smart-filter name is null, empty, or whitespace. The calling endpoints catch KavitaException and return it as HTTP 400 BadRequest with 'Name must be set'.

Source

Thrown at Kavita.Server/Controllers/FilterController.cs:125

    {
        try
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(dto.Name)) return BadRequest("Name is required");
            var encodedString = SmartFilterHelper.Encode(dto);
            await ValidateAndSaveFilterUpsert(dto.Name!, encodedString, dto.EntityType);
            return Ok();
        }
        catch (KavitaException ex)
        {
            return BadRequest(ex.Message);
        }
    }

    private async Task ValidateAndSaveFilterUpsert(string filterName, string encodedFilter,  FilterEntityType entityType)
    {
        var user = (await unitOfWork.UserRepository.GetUserByIdAsync(UserId, AppUserIncludes.SmartFilters))!;

        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(filterName)) throw new KavitaException("Name must be set");
        if (Defaults.DefaultStreams.Any(s => s.Name.Equals(filterName, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)))
        {
            // NOTE: This checks against localization keys (on-deck), so this case will almost never happen
            throw new KavitaException("You cannot use the name of a system provided stream");
        }

        var existingFilter = user.SmartFilters.FirstOrDefault(s => s.Name.Equals(filterName, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase));
        if (existingFilter != null)
        {
            // Update the filter
            existingFilter.Filter = encodedFilter;
            unitOfWork.AppUserSmartFilterRepository.Update(existingFilter);
        }
        else
        {
            existingFilter = new AppUserSmartFilter()
            {
                Name = filterName,

View on GitHub (pinned to 9c3e540000)

Solutions

1. Provide a non-empty, non-whitespace name in the filter upsert request.
2. Validate the name client-side before enabling submit.
3. If scripting the API, assert dto.Name is not null/empty before sending.

Example fix

// before
{ "name": "   ", "filter": "..." }

// after
{ "name": "My Reading List", "filter": "..." }

if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(dto.Name))
    return BadRequest("Name must be set");

static bool IsValidFilterName(string? name)
    => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(name);

try { await ValidateAndSaveFilterUpsert(name, enc, type); }
catch (KavitaException ex) { return BadRequest(ex.Message); }

When it happens

Trigger: POST to a filter upsert endpoint (create/update smart filter, annotation filter) with an empty Name in the DTO, or with whitespace only.

Common situations: Frontend submits before the name input is filled; a scripted client omits the name field; trimming turns a spaces-only name into empty.

Related errors

• {comparison} is not applicable for {fieldName}
• You cannot use the name of a system provided stream
• invalid-metadata-provider
• smart-filter-doesnt-exist
• smart-filter-already-in-use

AI-assisted analysis of Kareadita/Kavita@9c3e540000 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/21bcb2442835527a. Report an issue: GitHub.