Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF · warning · Error

Expected ${expectedFormat === "automate" ? "Automate JSON (o

Error message

Expected ${expectedFormat === "automate" ? "Automate JSON (operations array)" : "Folder Scanning JSON (pipeline array)"} but file looks like ${detected === "automate" ? "Automate JSON" : "Folder Scanning JSON"}.

What it means

Thrown by parseAutomationFile when expectedFormat was supplied and detectAutomationFormat disagreed: the detected format is concrete (not 'unknown') and differs from what the caller expected.

Source

Thrown at frontend/editor/src/core/utils/automationConverter.ts:403

export function parseAutomationFile(
  fileText: string,
  toolRegistry: Partial<ToolRegistry>,
  expectedFormat?: "automate" | "folderScanning",
): ParsedAutomationImport {
  let raw: unknown;
  try {
    raw = JSON.parse(fileText);
  } catch (err) {
    throw new Error(`File is not valid JSON: ${(err as Error).message}`, {
      cause: err,
    });
  }

  const detected = detectAutomationFormat(raw);
  const format = expectedFormat ?? detected;

  if (expectedFormat && detected !== "unknown" && detected !== expectedFormat) {
    throw new Error(
      `Expected ${
        expectedFormat === "automate"
          ? "Automate JSON (operations array)"
          : "Folder Scanning JSON (pipeline array)"
      } but file looks like ${
        detected === "automate" ? "Automate JSON" : "Folder Scanning JSON"
      }.`,
    );
  }

  if (format === "automate") {
    const result = parseAutomationConfigJson(raw, toolRegistry);
    return { format: "automate", ...result };
  }
  if (format === "folderScanning") {
    const result = parseFolderScanningConfig(raw, toolRegistry);
    return { format: "folderScanning", ...result };
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 9ef20dcab8)

Solutions

Let the user pick the correct format, or omit expectedFormat to use auto-detection.
Re-export the config in the desired format.
Inform the user which format was actually detected so they can correct their selection.

Example fix

// before
parseAutomationFile(text, toolRegistry, 'automate'); // file is folder-scanning -> throws

// after
const detected = detectAutomationFormat(JSON.parse(text));
parseAutomationFile(text, toolRegistry, detected ?? undefined);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const detected = detectAutomationFormat(JSON.parse(text.replace(/^\uFEFF/, '')));
if (expectedFormat && detected !== 'unknown' && detected !== expectedFormat) {
  throw new Error(`File is ${detected}, not ${expectedFormat}. Switch the import type.`);
}

Type guard

function formatMatches(text: string, expected: 'automate' | 'folderScanning'): boolean {
  const d = detectAutomationFormat(JSON.parse(text.replace(/^\uFEFF/, '')));
  return d === 'unknown' || d === expected;
}

Prevention

Default to auto-detection (omit expectedFormat) unless the user explicitly forces a format.
When forcing a format, pre-check with detectAutomationFormat and warn before throwing.
Tell users the detected format so they can fix their selection.

When it happens

Trigger: The caller asked for 'automate' but the file has a pipeline[] (folder-scanning), or asked for 'folderScanning' but the file has operations[] (automate).

Common situations: User picked the wrong import type in the UI; the file was exported in the other format; a mismatch between the selected radio button and the file's actual shape.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF@9ef20dcab8 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/07dfd2273486585f. Report an issue: GitHub.