crowdsecurity/crowdsec · error

plugin %q: config not found

Error message

plugin %q: config not found

What it means

tryNotify looks up the plugin's PluginConfig by name before sending a notification; if the name is absent from pluginConfigByName it returns "plugin %q: config not found". The broker is asked to notify a plugin it has no loaded config for. This typically happens through dispatch from Run for a plugin registered late or referenced after a config reload.

Source

Thrown at pkg/csplugin/broker.go:379

	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	raw, err := client.Dispense(name)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	pb.pluginKillMethods = append(pb.pluginKillMethods, c.Kill)

	return raw.(protobufs.NotifierServer), nil
}

func (pb *PluginBroker) tryNotify(ctx context.Context, pluginName, message string) error {
	// config guard
	pc, ok := pb.pluginConfigByName[pluginName]
	if !ok {
		return fmt.Errorf("plugin %q: config not found", pluginName)
	}

	timeout := pc.TimeOut
	ctxTimeout, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, timeout)

	defer cancel()

	// plugin guard
	plugin, ok := pb.notificationPluginByName[pluginName]
	if !ok || plugin == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("plugin %q: notifier not registered", pluginName)
	}

	_, err := plugin.Notify(
		ctxTimeout,
		&protobufs.Notification{
			Text: message,
			Name: pluginName,

View on GitHub (pinned to 909b515798)

Solutions

1. Confirm a notification yaml with that exact `name:` exists and parsed successfully at startup.
2. Restart crowdsec after adding/renaming notification configs.
3. Align the notification name used in profiles.yaml with the yaml `name:` field.
4. Check for earlier loadConfig warnings ('is defined multiple times') that may indicate the wrong config won.

Example fix

// before: dispatch to name with no config
notifications:
  - slak_default   # typo
// after
notifications:
  - slack_default

// before dispatching
if _, ok := broker.pluginConfigByName[name]; !ok {
    log.Warnf("skipping notification to unconfigured plugin %s", name)
    return nil
}

if err := broker.tryNotify(ctx, name, msg); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "config not found") {
        log.Warnf("plugin %s no longer configured; skipping", name)
        return nil
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: tryNotify invoked (via pushNotificationsToPlugin/Run dispatch) with a pluginName that has no entry in pluginConfigByName — e.g. notification was removed from the notification dir while crowdsec runs, or a profile change referencing an unconfigured plugin.

Common situations: Runtime reload removed/renamed a notification config while old alerts still reference it; name mismatch between profile and notification yaml; notifications dir edited without restarting crowdsec.

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• loading config: %w
• plugin %q: notifier not registered
• while getting process attributes: both plugin user and group
• plugin broker: %w
• loading plugin: %w

AI-assisted analysis of crowdsecurity/crowdsec@909b515798 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a19603b4ba1f37ff. Report an issue: GitHub.