getsops/sops · error

Binary files are not structured and extracting a single valu

Error message

Binary files are not structured and extracting a single value is not possible

What it means

Error "Binary files are not structured and extracting a single value is not possible" thrown in getsops/sops.

Source

Thrown at stores/json/store.go:96

		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: there must be exactly one tree branch", BinaryStoreEmitPlainError)
	}
	// JSON stores a single object per file
	for _, item := range in[0] {
		if item.Key == "data" {
			if value, ok := item.Value.(string); ok {
				return []byte(value), nil
			} else {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: 'data' key in tree does not have a string value", BinaryStoreEmitPlainError)
			}
		}
	}
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: no binary data found in tree", BinaryStoreEmitPlainError)
}

// EmitValue extracts a value from a generic interface{} object representing a structured set
// of binary files
func (store BinaryStore) EmitValue(v interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("Binary files are not structured and extracting a single value is not possible")
}

// EmitExample returns the example's plaintext json file bytes
func (store BinaryStore) EmitExample() []byte {
	return []byte("Welcome to SOPS! Edit this file as you please!")
}

func (store Store) sliceFromJSONDecoder(dec *json.Decoder) ([]interface{}, error) {
	var slice []interface{}
	for {
		t, err := dec.Token()
		if err != nil {
			return slice, err
		}
		if delim, ok := t.(json.Delim); ok && delim.String() == "]" {
			return slice, nil
		} else if ok && delim.String() == "{" {
			item, err := store.treeBranchFromJSONDecoder(dec)

View on GitHub (pinned to 13442bb981)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at stores/json/store.go:96 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of getsops/sops@13442bb981 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0535dd3304499b42. Report an issue: GitHub.