OpenBMB/ChatDev · error · ConfigError

expected skill entry mapping or string

Error message

expected skill entry mapping or string

What it means

Inside the allow list, each item must be either a string or a Mapping (parsed via AgentSkillSelectionConfig); anything else (int, bool, null, nested list) raises ConfigError('expected skill entry mapping or string') at '<path>[idx]'.

Source

Thrown at entity/configs/node/skills.py:175

    def _coerce_allow_entries(value: Any, *, field_path: str) -> List[str]:
        if value is None:
            return []
        if not isinstance(value, list):
            raise ConfigError("expected list of skill entries", field_path)

        result: List[str] = []
        for idx, item in enumerate(value):
            item_path = f"{field_path}[{idx}]"
            if isinstance(item, str):
                normalized = item.strip()
                if normalized:
                    result.append(normalized)
                continue
            if isinstance(item, Mapping):
                entry = AgentSkillSelectionConfig.from_dict(item, path=item_path)
                result.append(entry.name)
                continue
            raise ConfigError("expected skill entry mapping or string", item_path)
        return result

View on GitHub (pinned to 4fb2db0ea9)

Solutions

1. Quote names that look like numbers/booleans: - '42'
2. Remove null or nested-list entries
3. Ensure templating always emits strings or mappings per element

Example fix

# before
allow:
  - 42
# after
allow:
  - '42'

for i, item in enumerate(allow_list):
    assert isinstance(item, (str, dict)), f'entry {i} must be string or mapping'

def is_valid_allow_item(v) -> bool:
    return isinstance(v, (str, dict))

try:
    SkillsConfig.from_dict(d, path='skills')
except ConfigError as e:
    if 'mapping or string' in str(e):
        d['allow'] = [str(x) for x in d['allow']]
        SkillsConfig.from_dict(d, path='skills')

When it happens

Trigger: allow: [1, true, null, [a]] — any non-string/non-mapping list element.

Common situations: YAML unquoted numbers/booleans intended as names (e.g. 42 as a skill name); nulls from sparse data; nested lists from templating bugs.

Related errors

• expected list of skill entries
• model.name must be a non-empty string
• model.input_mode must be 'prompt' or 'messages'
• tooling must be a list
• memories must be a list

AI-assisted analysis of OpenBMB/ChatDev@4fb2db0ea9 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aadf9c3a3bf09c47. Report an issue: GitHub.