NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · error · IllegalArgumentException

No codec for type {}

Error message

No codec for type {}

What it means

Thrown by AutoConfigState.ConfigStateField.putState() when getCodecByType(type) returns null, i.e., the value's type has no registered ConfigFieldCodec. SaveState only supports a fixed set of primitive/wrapper/String/array/File/Path/Enum/BigInteger types; any other type cannot be serialized and registration aborts. The message names the unsupported type.

Source

Thrown at Ghidra/Debug/ProposedUtils/src/main/java/ghidra/framework/plugintool/AutoConfigState.java:492

		}

		/**
		 * Put an object into a {@link SaveState} using a known codec
		 * 
		 * <p>
		 * This seems like something that should be in SaveState itself, but the object value must
		 * be one of the supported types.
		 * 
		 * @param <T> the type of the value
		 * @param state the state to write into
		 * @param type the type of the value
		 * @param name the name of the name-value pair
		 * @param value the value of the name-value pair
		 */
		public static <T> void putState(SaveState state, Class<T> type, String name, T value) {
			ConfigFieldCodec<T> codec = getCodecByType(type);
			if (codec == null) {
				throw new IllegalArgumentException("No codec for type " + type);
			}
			codec.write(state, name, value);
		}

		/**
		 * Get an object from a {@link SaveState} using a known codec
		 * 
		 * <p>
		 * This seems like something that should be in SaveState itself.
		 * 
		 * @param <T> the type of the value
		 * @param state the state to read from
		 * @param type the expected type of the value
		 * @param name the name of the name-value pair
		 * @return the value of the name-value pair
		 */
		public static <T> T getState(SaveState state, Class<T> type, String name) {
			ConfigFieldCodec<T> codec = getCodecByType(type);

View on GitHub (pinned to d5f144c24d)

Solutions

1. Use a supported type (String, int, boolean, enum, File, Path, BigInteger, or a primitive array).
2. Implement a ConfigFieldCodec<T> for the custom type and reference it via @AutoConfigStateField(codec=MyCodec.class).
3. Serialize the custom object to a String or byte[] and store that instead.

Example fix

// before
ConfigStateField.putState(state, MyPojo.class, "pojo", pojo); // no codec

// after
// option A: convert to supported type
ConfigStateField.putState(state, String.class, "pojo", pojo.toJson());
// option B: register a custom codec via @AutoConfigStateField(codec = MyPojoCodec.class)

ConfigFieldCodec<?> codec = AutoConfigState.ConfigStateField.getCodecByType(type);
if (codec == null) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("No codec for " + type + "; convert or register one");
}
ConfigStateField.putState(state, type, name, value);

static boolean hasCodec(Class<?> type) {
  return AutoConfigState.ConfigStateField.getCodecByType(type) != null;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling putState with a type not in the codec registry, such as a custom POJO, a List, a Map, LocalDate, or an arbitrary domain class. An @AutoConfigStateField whose field type lacks a codec and whose annotation codec() defaults to DefaultConfigFieldCodec.

Common situations: Adding a config field of an unsupported type without supplying a custom codec; expecting SaveState to handle arbitrary objects; version upgrades that introduce new field types.

Related errors

• Unsupported value: {}
• Invalid value for {}
• No such address space: %s
• Current trace does not use Sleigh
• Failed to read memory

AI-assisted analysis of NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra@d5f144c24d (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/508e3821aad74a2a. Report an issue: GitHub.