cilium/cilium · warning

%w: expected key

Error message

%w: expected key

What it means

The kvstore 'del' script command requires exactly one argument (the key). With any other argument count it returns script.ErrUsage wrapped with 'expected key', a usage error surfaced to the script engine.

Source

Thrown at pkg/kvstore/commands.go:73

			value, err = tryTranscodeFromJSON(key, value)
			if err != nil {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not transcode %q value: %w", key, err)
			}

			return nil, c.client.Update(s.Context(), key, value, false)
		},
	)
}

func (c cmds) delete() script.Cmd {
	return script.Command(
		script.CmdUsage{
			Summary: "delete kvstore key-value",
			Args:    "key",
		},
		func(s *script.State, args ...string) (script.WaitFunc, error) {
			if len(args) != 1 {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: expected key", script.ErrUsage)
			}
			return nil, c.client.Delete(s.Context(), args[0])
		},
	)
}

func (c cmds) list() script.Cmd {
	return script.Command(
		script.CmdUsage{
			Summary: "list kvstore key-value pairs",
			Args:    "prefix (output file)",
			Flags: func(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
				fs.StringP("output", "o", "plain", "Output format. One of: (plain, json)")
				fs.Bool("keys-only", false, "Only output the listed keys")
				fs.Bool("values-only", false, "Only output the listed values")
			},
		},
		func(s *script.State, args ...string) (script.WaitFunc, error) {

View on GitHub (pinned to ac7b90affa)

Solutions

1. Pass exactly one argument: the key to delete
2. Quote keys containing spaces or special characters
3. Use the list command to confirm the exact key name

Example fix

// before
kvstore/del cilium/state some extra
// after
kvstore/del cilium/state

if len(args) != 1 {
    return fmt.Errorf("%w: expected key", script.ErrUsage)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking the kvstore del script command with zero or multiple arguments.

Common situations: Pasting multi-word keys without quoting so the shell splits them into multiple args; forgetting the key entirely; passing a prefix with flags misplaced.

Related errors

• %w: expected key and value file
• --keys-only and --values-only are mutually exclusive
• group-ip or all flag must be specified
• could not read %q: %w
• could not transcode %q value: %w

AI-assisted analysis of cilium/cilium@ac7b90affa (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/195607eccbe82ac3. Report an issue: GitHub.