github/spec-kit · error · PresetValidationError

Invalid {section}: expected a mapping

Error message

Invalid {section}: expected a mapping

What it means

Error "Invalid {section}: expected a mapping" thrown in github/spec-kit.

Source

Thrown at src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py:321

        return data

    def _validate(self):
        """Validate manifest structure and required fields."""
        # Check required top-level fields
        for field in self.REQUIRED_FIELDS:
            if field not in self.data:
                raise PresetValidationError(f"Missing required field: {field}")

        # Validate schema version
        if self.data["schema_version"] != self.SCHEMA_VERSION:
            raise PresetValidationError(
                f"Unsupported schema version: {self.data['schema_version']} "
                f"(expected {self.SCHEMA_VERSION})"
            )

        for section in ("preset", "requires", "provides"):
            if not isinstance(self.data[section], dict):
                raise PresetValidationError(
                    f"Invalid {section}: expected a mapping"
                )

        # Validate preset metadata
        pack = self.data["preset"]
        # Check presence AND type: the format/version checks below feed these
        # values straight to ``re.match`` and ``packaging.Version``, both of
        # which raise a bare TypeError on a non-string. YAML makes that an easy
        # authoring slip -- unquoted ``version: 1.0`` parses as a float and
        # ``id: 2`` as an int -- and TypeError is not a PresetValidationError,
        # so it escapes every caller that already handles a malformed manifest
        # (see list_installed()'s "Corrupted preset" fallback, which catches
        # PresetValidationError only, making one bad preset exit ``specify
        # preset list`` with a raw traceback and hide the healthy ones).
        # Mirrors the sibling IntegrationDescriptor, which already type-checks
        # the same four fields.
        for field in ["id", "name", "version", "description"]:
            if field not in pack:

View on GitHub (pinned to bf88c9f9a8)

Solutions

1. Make the reported section in the preset manifest a mapping.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/specify_cli/presets/__init__.py:321 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of github/spec-kit@bf88c9f9a8 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9258e0f4cbdebc5b. Report an issue: GitHub.