gchq/CyberChef · warning · OperationError

Enter the public key of the recipient.

Error message

Enter the public key of the recipient.

What it means

PGPEncrypt.run reads args[0] as the recipient's public key. If it is falsy the operation aborts before importing any key - there is no key to encrypt for. This is an input-validation guard.

Source

Thrown at src/core/operations/PGPEncrypt.mjs:60

                "type": "text",
                "value": ""
            }
        ];
    }

    /**
     * @param {string} input
     * @param {Object[]} args
     * @returns {string}
     *
     * @throws {OperationError} if failed private key import or failed encryption
     */
    async run(input, args) {
        const plaintextMessage = input,
            plainPubKey = args[0];
        let encryptedMessage;

        if (!plainPubKey) throw new OperationError("Enter the public key of the recipient.");

        const key = await importPublicKey(plainPubKey);

        try {
            encryptedMessage = await promisify(kbpgp.box)({
                "msg": plaintextMessage,
                "encrypt_for": key,
                "asp": ASP
            });
        } catch (err) {
            throw new OperationError(`Couldn't encrypt message with provided public key: ${err}`);
        }

        return encryptedMessage.toString();
    }

}

View on GitHub (pinned to 4290ea7539)

Solutions

1. Provide the recipient's ASCII-armoured PGP public key in the first argument.
2. Verify the key begins with '-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----'.
3. Ensure the key has an encryption-capable subkey.

const plainPubKey = args[0];
if (!plainPubKey || !plainPubKey.trim()) {
    throw new Error('Recipient public key argument is required before running PGP Encrypt.');
}

const isArmouredPublicKey = (s) =>
    typeof s === 'string' && /-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----/.test(s);

When it happens

Trigger: The 'Public key of recipient' argument is empty; the args array is missing element 0; the key text was not bound into the recipe.

Common situations: User forgot to paste the recipient public key; programmatic call with a missing argument; blank UI field.

Related errors

• Enter the private key of the recipient.
• Enter the public key of the signer.
• Enter the private key of the signer.
• Enter the private key of the signer.
• Enter the public key of the signer.

AI-assisted analysis of gchq/CyberChef@4290ea7539 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1039fe8c1eaf64ec. Report an issue: GitHub.