{"record":{"id":"8f3304957471909b","repo":"testcontainers/testcontainers-java","slug":"unable-to-parse-yaml-file-from-composefileabsolutepath","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Unable to parse YAML file from ${composeFileAbsolutePath}","messagePattern":"Unable to parse YAML file from (.+?)","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"IllegalArgumentException","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"core/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/ParsedDockerComposeFile.java","lineNumber":63,"sourceCode":"        // The default is 50 and a big docker-compose.yml file can easily go above that number. 1,000 should give us some room\n        LoaderOptions options = new LoaderOptions();\n        options.setMaxAliasesForCollections(1_000);\n        DumperOptions dumperOptions = new DumperOptions();\n\n        SafeConstructor constructor = new SafeConstructor(options) {\n            @Override\n            protected Object constructObject(Node node) {\n                if (node.getTag().equals(new Tag(\"!reset\")) || node.getTag().equals(new Tag(\"!override\"))) {\n                    return null;\n                }\n                return super.constructObject(node);\n            }\n        };\n        Yaml yaml = new Yaml(constructor, new Representer(dumperOptions), dumperOptions, options, new Resolver());\n        try (FileInputStream fileInputStream = FileUtils.openInputStream(composeFile)) {\n            composeFileContent = yaml.load(fileInputStream);\n        } catch (Exception e) {\n            throw new IllegalArgumentException(\"Unable to parse YAML file from \" + composeFile.getAbsolutePath(), e);\n        }\n        this.composeFileName = composeFile.getAbsolutePath();\n        this.composeFile = composeFile;\n        parseAndValidate();\n    }\n\n    @VisibleForTesting\n    ParsedDockerComposeFile(Map<String, Object> testContent) {\n        this.composeFileContent = testContent;\n        this.composeFileName = \"\";\n        this.composeFile = new File(\".\");\n\n        parseAndValidate();\n    }\n\n    private void parseAndValidate() {\n        final Map<String, ?> servicesMap;\n        if (composeFileContent.containsKey(\"version\") && \"2.0\".equals(composeFileContent.get(\"version\"))) {","sourceCodeStart":45,"sourceCodeEnd":81,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/blob/8e549514e3f01c57d70546fbb8599d138f3903e5/core/src/main/java/org/testcontainers/containers/ParsedDockerComposeFile.java#L45-L81","documentation":"ParsedDockerComposeFile loads and parses a docker-compose YAML file using SnakeYAML. If the file cannot be read or the YAML is malformed, an IllegalArgumentException with the file's absolute path is thrown and the parse exception is set as the cause. This happens before any Testcontainers-specific validation.","triggerScenarios":"Constructor `new ParsedDockerComposeFile(composeFile)` where yaml.load() throws: invalid YAML syntax (bad indentation, tabs, duplicate keys), unreadable file, or non-mapping root document.","commonSituations":"Hand-edited compose files with tab characters instead of spaces, truncated files from bad checkouts, wrong file path passed so an HTML error page or empty file is read, YAML anchors misused.","solutions":["Inspect the cause exception's line/column to locate the YAML syntax error.","Validate the file with `docker-compose -f <file> config` or any YAML linter.","Ensure the File path points to an existing, readable compose file.","Replace tabs with spaces and fix indentation issues."],"exampleFix":"// before\nParsedDockerComposeFile parsed = new ParsedDockerComposeFile(new File(\"dockr-compose.yml\")); // typo: file missing/garbage\n// after\nFile f = new File(\"docker-compose.yml\");\nif (!f.isFile() || !f.canRead()) throw new IllegalStateException(\"compose file missing: \" + f);\nParsedDockerComposeFile parsed = new ParsedDockerComposeFile(f);","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"File f = new File(path);\nif (!f.isFile() || !f.canRead()) throw new IllegalStateException(\"compose file unreadable: \" + f);\nnew org.yaml.snakeyaml.Yaml().load(java.nio.file.Files.readString(f.toPath())); // syntax pre-check","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"try { new ParsedDockerComposeFile(file); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { throw new ConfigurationException(\"Bad compose YAML: \" + e.getCause().getMessage(), e); }","preventionTips":["Lint compose files in CI (yamllint / docker compose config).","Never hand-edit compose files with editors that insert tabs.","Keep test compose files in version control and validated."],"tags":["yaml","compose-file","parse-error"],"backgroundTag":"yaml-parse-error","analyzedSha":"8e549514e3f01c57d70546fbb8599d138f3903e5","analyzedAt":"2026-09-12T14:56:41.227Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-12T14:56:41.227Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-16T04:17:20.429Z"}