docker/compose · error · ErrParsingFailed

parsing failed

Error message

parsing failed

What it means

api.ErrParsingFailed is the sentinel for string-to-object parse failures inside the api layer (for example failing to parse a filter value, an ID, or a serialized payload into its structured form). It exists so callers can distinguish malformed input from engine/transport errors.

Solutions

1. Correct the input string to the documented format for the option being parsed.
2. Validate values in your script before passing them (regex or dry-run with docker compose config).
3. On version-skew suspicions, align composer/engine versions and retry.

# dry-run parse check before the real command
docker compose config --quiet || { echo "compose file/inputs failed to parse" >&2; exit 1; }

func isParsingFailed(err error) bool { return errors.Is(err, api.ErrParsingFailed) }

if err := parseInput(s); err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, api.ErrParsingFailed) {
        return fmt.Errorf("invalid input %q: %w", s, err)
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a malformed string to an api helper that must parse it (e.g. an invalid filter or argument format reaching a parsing function); backends wrapping decode errors into this sentinel.

Common situations: Hand-written filter strings with bad syntax; payloads produced by a different compose version being parsed by an older one; scripts feeding unescaped values into parse-based options.

Related errors

• already exists
• canceled
• forbidden
• no resources
• not found

AI-assisted analysis of docker/compose@ddc4b044b6 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/70617cba0291bf30. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pkg/api/errors.go:45

)

var (
	// ErrNotFound is returned when an object is not found
	ErrNotFound = errors.New("not found")
	// ErrAlreadyExists is returned when an object already exists
	ErrAlreadyExists = errors.New("already exists")
	// ErrForbidden is returned when an operation is not permitted
	ErrForbidden = errors.New("forbidden")
	// ErrUnknown is returned when the error type is unmapped
	ErrUnknown = errors.New("unknown")
	// ErrNotImplemented is returned when a backend doesn't implement an action
	ErrNotImplemented = errors.New("not implemented")
	// ErrUnsupportedFlag is returned when a backend doesn't support a flag
	ErrUnsupportedFlag = errors.New("unsupported flag")
	// ErrCanceled is returned when the command was canceled by user
	ErrCanceled = errors.New("canceled")
	// ErrParsingFailed is returned when a string cannot be parsed
	ErrParsingFailed = errors.New("parsing failed")
	// ErrNoResources is returned when operation didn't selected any resource
	ErrNoResources = errors.New("no resources")
)

// IsNotFoundError returns true if the unwrapped error is ErrNotFound
func IsNotFoundError(err error) bool {
	return errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound)
}

// IsAlreadyExistsError returns true if the unwrapped error is ErrAlreadyExists
func IsAlreadyExistsError(err error) bool {
	return errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyExists)
}

// IsForbiddenError returns true if the unwrapped error is ErrForbidden
func IsForbiddenError(err error) bool {
	return errors.Is(err, ErrForbidden)
}

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