crowdsecurity/crowdsec · error

duration is required

Error message

duration is required

What it means

CounterType.Validate enforces that a counter bucket has capacity exactly -1 and a non-empty `duration` string. This error is thrown when the counter bucket spec has no duration, meaning the counter would never expire, so validation refuses to build it.

Source

Thrown at pkg/leakybucket/buckettype.go:65

		return fmt.Errorf("invalid capacity '%d': must be 0", f.Spec.Capacity)
	}

	return nil
}

func (TriggerType) BuildProcessors(_ *BucketFactory) []Processor {
	return []Processor{&TriggerProcessor{}}
}

type CounterType struct{}

func (CounterType) Validate(f *BucketFactory) error {
	if f.Spec.Capacity != -1 {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid capacity '%d': must be -1", f.Spec.Capacity)
	}

	if f.Spec.Duration == "" {
		return errors.New("duration is required")
	}

	if f.duration <= 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid duration '%d': must be > 0", f.duration)
	}

	return nil
}

func (CounterType) BuildProcessors(_ *BucketFactory) []Processor {
	return []Processor{&DumbProcessor{}}
}

type ConditionalType struct{}

func (ConditionalType) Validate(f *BucketFactory) error {
	if f.Spec.Capacity != -1 {
		f.logger.Warnf("Using a value different than -1 as capacity for conditional bucket, this may lead to unexpected overflows")

View on GitHub (pinned to 909b515798)

Solutions

1. Add a valid duration to the counter spec, e.g. `duration: 1m`
2. Ensure `capacity: -1` is set as well — Validate rejects any other capacity first
3. Check YAML indentation so `duration` sits inside the bucket spec block
4. Reload the scenario and confirm the error is gone

Example fix

// before
# type: counter
# capacity: -1
// after
# type: counter
# capacity: -1
# duration: 1m

// before loading the bucket config
if b.Spec.Type == "counter" {
    if b.Spec.Capacity != -1 { return fmt.Errorf("counter capacity must be -1") }
    if b.Spec.Duration == "" { return fmt.Errorf("duration is required") }
    if _, err := time.ParseDuration(b.Spec.Duration); err != nil { return err }
}

if err := CounterType{}.Validate(factory); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "duration is required") {
        return fmt.Errorf("counter bucket %q: add a duration like '1m'", factory.Name)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a bucket with type: counter whose spec lacks the `duration:` field (f.Spec.Duration == ""), during bucket factory validation.

Common situations: Writing a counter bucket from scratch and forgetting duration; converting a leaky bucket (which uses leakspeed) into a counter without swapping the field; copy-pasted bucket blocks with duration removed.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• leakspeed is required
• a condition is required
• bayesian conditions are required
• invalid prior: must be > 0 and <= 1
• path must start with /

AI-assisted analysis of crowdsecurity/crowdsec@909b515798 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d34d756e9bcf9b1. Report an issue: GitHub.