cube-js/cube · error · TypeError

The ${keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL', dataSource)} must be

Error message

The ${keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL', dataSource)} must be either 'true' or 'false'.

What it means

Cube reads CUBEJS_DB_SSL (per data source via keyByDataSource) and only accepts the literal strings 'true' or 'false' (case-insensitive); anything else throws a TypeError. The message interpolates the actual data-source-specific variable name, e.g. CUBEJS_DS_MYSQL_DB_SSL.

Source

Thrown at packages/cubejs-backend-shared/src/env.ts:411

  dbType: ({ dataSource }: DataSourceOpts) => (
    // We don't support different driverType for pre-aggregations right now
    get(keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_TYPE', dataSource, false)).asString()
  ),

  /**
   * Use SSL connection flag.
   */
  dbSsl: ({
    dataSource,
    preAggregations,
  }: DataSourceOpts) => {
    const val = get(keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL', dataSource, preAggregations)).default('false').asString();
    if (val.toLocaleLowerCase() === 'true') {
      return true;
    } else if (val.toLowerCase() === 'false') {
      return false;
    } else {
      throw new TypeError(
        `The ${
          keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL', dataSource)
        } must be either 'true' or 'false'.`
      );
    }
  },

  /**
   * Reject unauthorized SSL connection flag.
   */
  dbSslRejectUnauthorized: ({
    dataSource,
    preAggregations,
  }: DataSourceOpts) => {
    const val = get(keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED', dataSource, preAggregations)).default('false').asString();
    if (val.toLocaleLowerCase() === 'true') {
      return true;
    } else if (val.toLowerCase() === 'false') {

View on GitHub (pinned to 7d981676b3)

Solutions

Set the variable to exactly true or false (no quotes, no whitespace).
Inspect the deployed value: node -e "console.log(JSON.stringify(process.env.CUBEJS_DB_SSL))" to reveal hidden characters.
Trim/normalize the value in your CI secret configuration.
Update scripts that set 1/0 or yes/no to true/false.

Example fix

// before
CUBEJS_DB_SSL="true"   # literal quotes break parsing
CUBEJS_DB_SSL=yes
// after
CUBEJS_DB_SSL=true

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(process.env)) {
  if (k.endsWith('_DB_SSL') && v !== undefined && !/^(true|false)$/i.test(v.trim()))
    throw new Error(`${k} must be 'true' or 'false', got: ${JSON.stringify(v)}`);
}

Type guard

function isBoolString(v: unknown): v is 'true' | 'false' {
  return v === 'true' || v === 'false' || v === 'TRUE' || v === 'FALSE';
}

Try / catch

try {
  dbSslEnabled(dataSource);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof TypeError && e.message.includes("either 'true' or 'false'")) {
    console.error(`Set ${keyByDataSource('CUBEJS_DB_SSL', dataSource)} to true or false`);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Write booleans as bare true/false in env files, never quoted or 1/0.
Check deployed values with node -p "JSON.stringify(process.env.X)" for hidden quotes/whitespace.
Normalize quoting in secret managers and Helm templates.

When it happens

Trigger: Setting CUBEJS_DB_SSL (or CUBEJS_DS_<DS>_DB_SSL) to values like '1', 'yes', 'on', 'enabled', or leaving stray quotes/whitespace such as '"true"'.

Common situations: Shell quoting adding literal quotes around the value; using 1/0 or yes/no conventions from other tools; CI secrets platforms injecting trailing whitespace or newline characters.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of cube-js/cube@7d981676b3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/738b4d66417f399b. Report an issue: GitHub.