Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

Invalid role. Allowed roles are: ${VALID_ROLES.join(", ")}

Error message

Invalid role. Allowed roles are: ${VALID_ROLES.join(", ")}

What it means

Thrown by User.validations.role when the supplied role is not in the hard-coded set ['default','admin','manager']. The validator is called during User.create (line 130). The error message is a template literal that interpolates the allowed list, so the thrown string reads 'Invalid role. Allowed roles are: default, admin, manager'.

Source

Thrown at server/models/user.js:54

      try {
        const username = String(newValue);
        if (username.length > 64)
          throw new Error("Username cannot be longer than 64 characters");
        if (username.length < 2)
          throw new Error("Username must be at least 2 characters");
        if (!User.usernameRegex.test(username))
          throw new Error(
            "Username must start with a lowercase letter and only contain lowercase letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, and periods"
          );
        return username;
      } catch (e) {
        throw new Error(e.message);
      }
    },
    role: (role = "default") => {
      const VALID_ROLES = ["default", "admin", "manager"];
      if (!VALID_ROLES.includes(role)) {
        throw new Error(
          `Invalid role. Allowed roles are: ${VALID_ROLES.join(", ")}`
        );
      }
      return String(role);
    },
    dailyMessageLimit: (dailyMessageLimit = null) => {
      if (dailyMessageLimit === null) return null;
      const limit = Number(dailyMessageLimit);
      if (isNaN(limit) || limit < 1) {
        throw new Error(
          "Daily message limit must be null or a number greater than or equal to 1"
        );
      }
      return limit;
    },
    bio: (bio = "") => {
      if (!bio || typeof bio !== "string") return "";
      if (bio.length > 1000)

View on GitHub (pinned to 526360e320)

Solutions

1. Use one of: 'default', 'admin', or 'manager'.
2. Map any external/legacy role to the closest allowed value before calling User.create.
3. Confirm frontend and backend role enums stay in sync.

Example fix

// before
User.create({ username, password, role: 'superuser' });
// after
User.create({ username, password, role: 'admin' });

const ALLOWED_ROLES = ['default', 'admin', 'manager'];
if (!ALLOWED_ROLES.includes(role)) role = 'default';

const isValidRole = (r) => typeof r === 'string' && ['default', 'admin', 'manager'].includes(r);

When it happens

Trigger: Creating a user with a role value outside the allowed set, e.g. 'superuser', 'owner', 'guest', or a typo like 'admn'.

Common situations: API client sends a role from a different auth vocabulary. A newer/older frontend version uses a role name not present in this backend. Migration/import carrying a legacy role string.

Related errors

• Username cannot be longer than 64 characters
• Username must be at least 2 characters
• Username must start with a lowercase letter and only contain
• Daily message limit must be null or a number greater than or
• Bio cannot be longer than 1,000 characters

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@526360e320 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4196e9fafd075fe6. Report an issue: GitHub.