affaan-m/ECC · error · ValueError

config must be a JSON object

Error message

config must be a JSON object

What it means

main() parses the config file (or a loaded application request) and requires the top-level JSON value to be a dict. A JSON array, string, number, or null at the top level raises ValueError('config must be a JSON object').

Solutions

  1. Wrap the config contents in a top-level JSON object with the expected keys (e.g. integration, inputs)
  2. Validate the file with python -m json.tool and confirm the outermost value is an object
  3. Point --config at the correct config file for the chosen --kind
  4. If using apply-bundle, ensure load_application_request produced a mapping (check the request file format)

Example fix

// before (config.json)
[{"integration": "..."}]
// after
{"integration": "..."}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import json
config = json.loads(path.read_text())
if not isinstance(config, dict):
    raise SystemExit(f'{path}: top-level JSON must be an object')

Type guard

def is_json_object(v):
    return isinstance(v, dict)

Try / catch

try:
    config = load_and_check(path)
except ValueError as e:
    if 'config must be a JSON object' in str(e):
        print(f'Fix {path}: wrap contents in a top-level {{...}} object')

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: The file at args.config contains e.g. a bare JSON array [ ... ] or a quoted string instead of a { ... } object; load_application_request returns a non-dict value.

Common situations: Exporting a list of settings instead of a settings object; saving an empty file or just a scalar; pointing --config at the wrong file (e.g. a workflow JSON that is an array).

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of affaan-m/ECC@8321021c54 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4f6c25e6fc3076cd. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at skills/taste-application/scripts/workflow_graphs.py:133

    graph = json.loads((WORKFLOWS / f'taste-{kind}.json').read_text())
    validate_graph(graph)
    return graph


def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
    parser.add_argument('--kind', choices=('apply', 'apply-bundle', 'distill'), required=True)
    parser.add_argument('--config', type=Path, required=True)
    parser.add_argument('--out', type=Path, required=True)
    args = parser.parse_args()
    try:
        if args.kind == 'apply-bundle':
            from tasteforge.integration import build_application_bundle, load_application_request
            config = load_application_request(args.config)
        else:
            config = json.loads(args.config.read_text())
        if not isinstance(config, dict):
            raise ValueError('config must be a JSON object')
        local_only = False
        if args.kind == 'apply-bundle':
            local_only = config.get('local_only', False)
            if type(local_only) is not bool:
                raise ValueError('local_only must be an exact boolean')
        if local_only:
            if set(config) != {'local_only', 'integration'}:
                raise ValueError('local-only request permits only local_only and integration fields')
            payload = build_application_bundle(config['integration'], None, local_only=True)
        else:
            load_graph('apply' if args.kind == 'apply-bundle' else args.kind)
            compile_input = compile_application_input if args.kind != 'distill' else prepare_distillation_input
            payload = compile_input(config)
            if args.kind == 'apply-bundle':
                payload = build_application_bundle(config.get('integration'), payload)
        with args.out.open('x') as output:
            output.write(json.dumps(payload, indent=2) + '\n')
    except (OSError, ValueError, KeyError) as error:

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