OpenBB-finance/OpenBB · error · ValueError

Unknown commodity: {commodity} -> Valid choices: {valid_choi

Error message

Unknown commodity: {commodity} -> Valid choices: {valid_choices}

What it means

ValueError in the PSD query builder when the commodity string, normalized to lower snake_case (spaces and dashes to underscores), is not a key in the static COMMODITIES map. The map holds the USDA PSD commodity codes (e.g. 'cotton', 'oil_meal'); anything else is rejected before any request.

Source

Thrown at openbb_platform/providers/government_us/openbb_government_us/utils/psd_data_downloader.py:277

    >>> get_timeseries('wheat', 'production', country='US, China, Brazil')
    >>> get_timeseries('wheat', 'production, exports, ending_stocks')  # Multiple attributes
    >>> get_timeseries('wheat', ['production', 'exports'])  # List of attributes
    >>> get_timeseries('wheat', 'production', aggregate_region=True)  # World + regions only
    >>> get_timeseries('wheat')  # ALL attributes for wheat
    """
    # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
    import asyncio  # noqa
    from datetime import datetime
    from aiohttp import ClientError, ClientSession
    from openbb_core.app.model.abstract.error import OpenBBError
    from openbb_core.provider.utils.helpers import get_async_requests_session, run_async
    from pandas import DataFrame, notna

    QUERY_URL = "https://apps.fas.usda.gov/PSDOnlineApi/api/query/RunQuery"
    key = commodity.lower().replace(" ", "_").replace("-", "_")

    if key not in COMMODITIES:
        raise ValueError(
            f"Unknown commodity: {commodity} -> Valid choices: {list(COMMODITIES.keys())}"
        )

    commodity_code = COMMODITIES[key]
    valid_attrs = _get_commodity_attributes(commodity_code)
    # Resolve attribute - None means ALL, can be single, list, or comma-separated
    if attribute is None:
        attr_ids = [ATTRIBUTES[a] for a in valid_attrs]
    else:
        # Normalize to list
        if isinstance(attribute, str):
            attr_list = [a.strip() for a in attribute.split(",") if a.strip()]
        else:
            attr_list = list(attribute)

        # Validate each attribute
        attr_ids = []
        for attr in attr_list:

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e071fcc2c)

Solutions

1. Use one of the exact keys printed in the error's valid-choices list (case-insensitive, spaces/hyphens allowed).
2. Expose COMMODITIES keys to your users as an enum/autocomplete instead of free text.
3. Update the provider if USDA added a commodity the mapping lacks.

Example fix

# before
get_psd_data(commodity="soy oil")

# after
get_psd_data(commodity="soybean_oil")  # exact key from COMMODITIES

from openbb_government_us.utils.psd_data_downloader import COMMODITIES

def normalize_commodity(c: str) -> str | None:
    key = c.lower().replace(" ", "_").replace("-", "_")
    return key if key in COMMODITIES else None

def is_valid_psd_commodity(c: str) -> bool is not None and isinstance(c, str) and c.lower().replace(" ", "_").replace("-", "_") in COMMODITIES

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the PSD data function with a commodity name not in COMMODITIES: plurals ('oils' vs 'oil'), synonyms ('soybean oil' vs 'soybean_oil' if unmapped), or misspellings.

Common situations: Free-text user input passed through without normalization; commodity vocabulary drift between your app and the USDA PSD naming; casing/hyphen differences are handled, so failures are almost always wrong names.

Related errors

• Unknown attribute: '{attr}' for {commodity}. Valid attribute
• Attribute '{attr}' is not available for {commodity}. Valid a
• Country '{c}' is not available for {commodity}. Valid countr
• Incorrect email or password
• '{item}' is not available. Did you mean '{similar}'?

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBB-finance/OpenBB@3e071fcc2c (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/203e6c89d49caf47. Report an issue: GitHub.