crowdsecurity/crowdsec · error

serializing console context

Error message

serializing console context: %s

What it means

At the end of LoadConsoleContext the assembled context map is JSON-marshaled as a sanity check; if marshaling fails the context data is not serializable (invalid types/keys), signaling corrupted context content.

Solutions

1. Inspect the context items and console context file for unusual data types
2. Fix malformed context values (must be string lists)
3. Report a bug if context content looks normal

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/alertcontext/config.go:136 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of crowdsecurity/crowdsec@909b515798 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/397a77ded083983b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pkg/alertcontext/config.go:136

		if _, err := os.Stat(c.Crowdsec.ConsoleContextPath); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("while checking console_context_path: %w", err)
		}
	} else {
		c.Crowdsec.ConsoleContextPath = filepath.Join(c.ConfigPaths.ConfigDir, "console", "context.yaml")
		ignoreMissing = true
	}

	if err := addContextFromFile(c.Crowdsec.ContextToSend, c.Crowdsec.ConsoleContextPath); err != nil {
		if !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
			return err
		} else if !ignoreMissing {
			log.Warningf("while merging context from %s: %s", c.Crowdsec.ConsoleContextPath, err)
		}
	}

	feedback, err := json.Marshal(c.Crowdsec.ContextToSend)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("serializing console context: %s", err)
	}

	log.Debugf("console context to send: %s", feedback)

	return nil
}

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