RyanCodrai/turbovec · error · ValueError

namespace must not contain ':' (a Windows drive-relative nam

Error message

namespace must not contain ':' (a Windows drive-relative name like 'C:foo' escapes persist_dir); got {namespace!r}. It names a store within persist_dir, not a path.

What it means

Raised in _validate_namespace when the namespace contains ':'. On Windows a colon forms a drive-relative name like 'C:foo' that escapes persist_dir without any path separator, bypassing the separator check; such namespaces are rejected rather than silently rewritten.

Source

Thrown at turbovec-python/python/turbovec/llama_index.py:176

    (alphanumerics, dash, underscore, dots, and other non-separator
    characters); dotted namespaces such as ``v1.2`` map to distinct
    file pairs and coexist in one ``persist_dir``.

    This is a deliberate divergence from ``SimpleVectorStore``, which does
    not sanitize its namespace, in the safer direction.
    """
    if namespace == "" or namespace == ".":
        raise ValueError(
            f"namespace must be a non-empty name, got {namespace!r}"
        )
    if "/" in namespace or "\\" in namespace or os.sep in namespace or ".." in namespace:
        raise ValueError(
            "namespace must not contain path separators ('/' or '\\\\') or "
            f"'..'; got {namespace!r}. It names a store within persist_dir, "
            "not a path."
        )
    if ":" in namespace:
        raise ValueError(
            "namespace must not contain ':' (a Windows drive-relative name "
            f"like 'C:foo' escapes persist_dir); got {namespace!r}. It "
            "names a store within persist_dir, not a path."
        )
    return namespace


def _split_persist_base(persist_path: str | Path) -> Path:
    """Derive the on-disk base from ``persist_path``: the binary index is
    written to ``{base}.tvim`` and the node side-car to
    ``{base}.nodes.json`` (extensions *appended* — see ``_with_ext``).

    Only a trailing ``.json`` — the conventional extension the framework
    hands us via ``{namespace}__vector_store.json`` — is stripped; every
    other character of the name is kept verbatim, including dots from a
    dotted namespace. ``v1.2__vector_store.json`` and
    ``v1.3__vector_store.json`` therefore map to distinct file pairs.
    (The previous ``with_suffix``-based implementation re-split the stem

View on GitHub (pinned to ccab9f325e)

Solutions

1. Remove ':' from the namespace (e.g. 'C:foo' -> 'C_foo').
2. Sanitize user-supplied namespace strings before constructing the store.
3. Catch the ValueError in tooling as part of the namespace path-escape defenses.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at turbovec-python/python/turbovec/llama_index.py:176 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of RyanCodrai/turbovec@ccab9f325e (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/43da975320392ef7. Report an issue: GitHub.