argoproj/argo-workflows · error

invalid log type: %s

Error message

invalid log type: %s

What it means

TypeFromString converts a log-format string into the LogType enum; only "json" and "text" are accepted (case-insensitive). Anything else returns the default Text type plus this error so callers can report a misconfigured ARGO_LOG_FORMAT or equivalent setting.

Source

Thrown at util/logging/logging.go:46

	JSON LogType = "json"
	Text LogType = "text"
)

func TypeFromStringOr(s string, defaultType LogType) (LogType, error) {
	if s == "" {
		return defaultType, nil
	}
	return TypeFromString(s)
}

func TypeFromString(s string) (LogType, error) {
	switch strings.ToLower(s) {
	case "json":
		return JSON, nil
	case "text":
		return Text, nil
	default:
		return Text, fmt.Errorf("invalid log type: %s", s)
	}
}

// Level is used to indicate log level
type Level string

const (
	// Debug level events
	Debug Level = "debug"
	// Info level events
	Info Level = "info"
	// Warn level events
	Warn Level = "warn"
	// Error level events
	Error Level = "error"
)

func ParseLevelOr(s string, defaultLevel Level) (Level, error) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 35bff19146)

Solutions

1. Set the format to exactly "json" or "text" (case-insensitive).
2. Prefer TypeFromStringOr/ContextWithLogger with an empty value so the default is applied instead of erroring.
3. Trim the value before passing: strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv(...)).
4. If you need structured logs of a different shape, wrap the existing JSON logger rather than requesting a new type.

Example fix

// before
fmt, err := logging.TypeFromString("logfmt")
// after
fmt, err := logging.TypeFromStringOr(strings.TrimSpace(cfg.Format), logging.Text)

var validLogTypes = map[string]bool{"json": true, "text": true}
func logTypeValid(s string) bool { return s == "" || validLogTypes[strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(s))] }

lt, err := logging.TypeFromStringOr(strings.TrimSpace(raw), logging.Text)
if err != nil {
    log.Printf("bad log format %q, using text", raw)
    lt = logging.Text
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting the log format env var (e.g. ARGO_LOG_FORMAT) or calling TypeFromString/ContextWithLogger with values like "pretty", "logfmt", "console", or a trailing-space/newline-contaminated value.

Common situations: Deploy manifests or Helm values copying a log format from another tool (zap/logrus options); YAML env values that pick up quotes or whitespace; documentation drift after the logger migration to the repo's own util/logging.

Related errors

• invalid log level: %s
• duplicate synchronization item found
• failed to create request: %w
• %w
• %w

AI-assisted analysis of argoproj/argo-workflows@35bff19146 (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0d58a79a7b2d41b4. Report an issue: GitHub.