Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference · error · Exception

Invalid severity '{severitySpan.ToString()}' in line '{line}

Error message

Invalid severity '{severitySpan.ToString()}' in line '{line}'

What it means

Thrown when the severity field does not parse (case-insensitive) to the RestrictedApiSeverity enum. The severity token must be one of the valid enum names.

Source

Thrown at Editor/Mono/Scripting/RestrictedApisValidation/RestrictedApisConfig.cs:201

        {
            if (!_idToSignatureDetails.TryGetValue(intId, out var previousMappedId))
                throw new Exception($"Id ({intId}) overriden in configuration line '{line}' is not defined by any previous lines.");

            (referenceHashCode, isTypeSignature)  = previousMappedId;
        }
        else
        {
            isTypeSignature = line.AsSpan().IndexOf("::") == -1; // member signatures must have a :: as a declaring type name/member name separator

            //TODO: When we switch from netstandard to *any* .NET BCL, remove the ToString() and call String.GetHashCode(signature) : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.string.gethashcode?view=net-9.0#system-string-gethashcode(system-readonlyspan((system-char)))
            referenceHashCode = signature.ToString().GetHashCode();
            _idToSignatureDetails[intId] = new (referenceHashCode, isTypeSignature);
        }

        var targetContainer = isTypeSignature ?  currentTypesConfig :  currentMembersConfig;
        if (!Enum.TryParse<RestrictedApiSeverity>(severitySpan.ToString(), ignoreCase: true, out var severity))
        {
            throw new Exception($"Invalid severity '{severitySpan.ToString()}' in line '{line}'");
        }

        targetContainer[referenceHashCode] = new RestrictedApiConfigEntry(intId, severity, description, documentationUrl);

        static ReadOnlySpan<char> NextToken(ref ReadOnlySpan<char> data, out int separatorIndex)
        {
            separatorIndex = data.IndexOf('|');
            if (separatorIndex == -1)
                return data;

            var toReturn = data.Slice(0, separatorIndex).Trim();
            data = data.Slice(separatorIndex + 1);
            return toReturn;
        }
    }

    public RestrictedApiConfigEntry RestrictedApiSeverityFor(MemberReference memberReference)
    {

View on GitHub (pinned to 225b0fbdb5)

Solutions

  1. Use a valid RestrictedApiSeverity name (typically 'error', 'warning', 'info' — confirm against the enum).
  2. Correct the typo shown in the message.

Example fix

// before
:1001 | System.IO.File::Open | critical
// after
:1001 | System.IO.File::Open | error
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Severity must parse to the RestrictedApiSeverity enum.
if (!Enum.TryParse<RestrictedApiSeverity>(severitySpan.ToString(), ignoreCase: true, out _))
    throw new FormatException($"Unknown severity '{severitySpan}' in: '{line}'");

Type guard

static bool IsValidSeverity(string s) =>
    Enum.TryParse<RestrictedApiSeverity>(s, ignoreCase: true, out _);

Try / catch

try { config = RestrictedApisConfig.Load(path); }
catch (Exception ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Invalid severity"))
{ /* correct the severity token to a valid enum name */ }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A rule line whose severity token is not a valid RestrictedApiSeverity value (e.g. 'critical', 'fatal', or a typo like 'eror').

Common situations: Typos, guessing a severity name that isn't an enum member, or using a value from a different validation system.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference@225b0fbdb5 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/97f5a1985687150c. Report an issue: GitHub.