Invalid run config at 'assistants.${provider}${suffix}': ${e

Error message

Invalid run config at 'assistants.${provider}${suffix}': ${error.message}.

What it means

A provider's parseRunConfig() rejected assistant defaults, so the config layer rethrows with the provider and optional field path prefixed for clarity. InvalidProviderRunConfigError carries a fieldPath used to build the 'assistants.<provider>.<field>' location in the message.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/config/run-config.ts:142

    assertRegisteredProvider(provider, `assistants.${provider}`);
    if (provider === 'pi' && Object.hasOwn(defaults, 'env')) {
      throw new Error(
        "Run config key 'assistants.pi.env' cannot apply: Pi extension environment mutates " +
          'process.env and is process-scoped.'
      );
    }
    if (provider === 'pi' && Object.hasOwn(defaults, 'maxConcurrent')) {
      throw new Error(
        "Run config key 'assistants.pi.maxConcurrent' cannot apply: Pi concurrency is " +
          'initialized once for the process lifetime.'
      );
    }
    try {
      assistants[provider] = getRegistration(provider).parseRunConfig(defaults);
    } catch (error) {
      if (error instanceof InvalidProviderRunConfigError) {
        const suffix = error.fieldPath ? `.${error.fieldPath}` : '';
        throw new Error(
          `Invalid run config at 'assistants.${provider}${suffix}': ${error.message}.`
        );
      }
      throw error;
    }
  }
  const tiers = Object.fromEntries(
    Object.entries(layer.tiers ?? {}).map(([tier, preset]) => [
      tier,
      normalizePreset(`tiers.${tier}`, preset),
    ])
  );
  const aliases = Object.fromEntries(
    Object.entries(layer.aliases ?? {}).map(([alias, preset]) => [
      alias,
      normalizePreset(`aliases.${alias}`, preset),
    ])
  );

View on GitHub (pinned to 0773b97458)

Solutions

Read the inner error.message for the specific field and reason
Fix or remove the offending key under assistants.<provider> in the config
Check the provider's documented run-config options to confirm the key and value shape

Example fix

// before
assistants:
  claude:
    model: 123
// after
assistants:
  claude:
    model: claude-sonnet-4-5

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function validateAssistantDefaults(provider, defaults, parseRunConfig) { try { parseRunConfig(defaults); } catch (e) { throw new Error(`Invalid assistants.${provider} defaults: ${e.message}`); } }

Type guard

function isRecord(v) { return typeof v === 'object' && v !== null && !Array.isArray(v); }

Try / catch

try { cfg = runConfig(layers); } catch (e) { const m = String(e.message).match(/Invalid run config at 'assistants\.([^.]+)(\.(\S+))?'/); if (m) console.error(`Fix assistants.${m[1]}${m[3] ? '.' + m[3] : ''}`); throw e; }

Prevention

Validate provider defaults against the provider's documented schema before loading
Keep provider option names and types in one source of truth
Test run config files with the real loader in CI

When it happens

Trigger: Calling runConfig()/parseWorkflowRunConfig()/unsealWorkflowRunConfig() with a value under assistants.<provider> that fails that provider's parseRunConfig validation (wrong type, unknown field, bad value).

Common situations: Typo'd or malformed options under an assistant provider section; passing a string where an object is expected; using options not supported by the registered provider version.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of coleam00/Archon@0773b97458 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2678a2f01dfee7ca. Report an issue: GitHub.