NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalArgumentException

Invalid bool for %s: %s. Only true or false is allowed.

Error message

Invalid bool for %s: %s. Only true or false is allowed.

What it means

Thrown as IllegalArgumentException by the BOOL BaseType decoder when the trimmed, lower-cased input is neither 'true' nor 'false'. The decoder is strict: values like 1/0, yes/no, on/off are all rejected. The message names AT_ENV (the attribute token context). Usually surfaces wrapped by error 353's ParseException.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/Debugger-rmi-trace/src/main/java/ghidra/app/plugin/core/debug/gui/tracermi/launcher/ScriptAttributesParser.java:210

				}
			}
		};

		public static final BaseType<Boolean> BOOL = new BaseType<>() {
			@Override
			public Class<Boolean> cls() {
				return Boolean.class;
			}

			@Override
			public Boolean decode(String str) {
				Boolean result = switch (str.trim().toLowerCase()) {
					case "true" -> true;
					case "false" -> false;
					default -> null;
				};
				if (result == null) {
					throw new IllegalArgumentException(
						"Invalid bool for %s: %s. Only true or false is allowed."
								.formatted(AT_ENV, str));
				}
				return result;
			}
		};

		public static final BaseType<Path> PATH = new BaseType<>() {
			@Override
			public Class<Path> cls() {
				return Path.class;
			}

			@Override
			public Path decode(String str) {
				return Paths.get(str);
			}
		};

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

  1. Use the literal 'true' or 'false' (case-insensitive) for bool parameters.
  2. Convert any 1/0, yes/no, on/off values to true/false before declaring them.
  3. Double-check the default value in the @attribute declaration line.

Example fix

# before
#@env VERBOSE:bool=1   # throws 'Invalid bool ... Only true or false'

# after
#@env VERBOSE:bool=true
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

String v = str.trim().toLowerCase();
if (!v.equals("true") && !v.equals("false")) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Bool must be true/false, got: " + str);
}

Type guard

boolean isValidBool(String s) {
    String v = s.trim().toLowerCase();
    return v.equals("true") || v.equals("false");
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Declaring or supplying a bool parameter with a value such as '1', '0', 'yes', 'on', 'enabled', or an empty string. Only the literal words 'true' and 'false' (any case, with surrounding whitespace) pass.

Common situations: A script author used 1/0 or yes/no conventions common in other config formats; a template substituted a non-boolean; a copy from a properties file that uses 'on'/'off'.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ffbefef7b826631c. Report an issue: GitHub.