hashicorp/nomad · error

decompression_file_count_limit must not be nil

Error message

decompression_file_count_limit must not be nil

What it means

Validate() requires decompression_file_count_limit to be explicitly present; a nil pointer fails with 'decompression_file_count_limit must not be nil'. Nomad uses this limit to cap how many files an artifact archive may contain during decompression (zip-slip / bomb protection).

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/config/artifact.go:221

		return fmt.Errorf("hg_timeout must be set")
	}
	if v, err := time.ParseDuration(*a.HgTimeout); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("hg_timeout not a valid duration: %w", err)
	} else if v < 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("hg_timeout must be > 0")
	}

	if a.S3Timeout == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("s3_timeout must be set")
	}
	if v, err := time.ParseDuration(*a.S3Timeout); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("s3_timeout not a valid duration: %w", err)
	} else if v < 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("s3_timeout must be > 0")
	}

	if a.DecompressionFileCountLimit == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("decompression_file_count_limit must not be nil")
	}
	if v := *a.DecompressionFileCountLimit; v < 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("decompression_file_count_limit must be >= 0 but found %d", v)
	}

	if a.DecompressionSizeLimit == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("decompression_size_limit must not be nil")
	}
	if v, err := humanize.ParseBytes(*a.DecompressionSizeLimit); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("decompression_size_limit is not a valid size: %w", err)
	} else if v > math.MaxInt64 {
		return fmt.Errorf("decompression_size_limit must be < %d but found %d", int64(math.MaxInt64), v)
	}

	if a.DisableArtifactInspection == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("disable_artifact_inspection must be set")
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Add decompression_file_count_limit = 10000 (or another suitable non-negative int) to the artifact block.
2. Build the config from DefaultArtifactConfig() and override only what you need.
3. Fix config merge logic so defaults fill absent keys instead of leaving nil pointers.

Example fix

// before
artifact {
  # decompression_file_count_limit missing
}
// after
artifact {
  decompression_file_count_limit = 10000
}

if cfg.DecompressionFileCountLimit == nil {
    return errors.New("artifact config must set decompression_file_count_limit")
}

func hasFileCountLimit(a *ArtifactConfig) bool { return a.DecompressionFileCountLimit != nil && *a.DecompressionFileCountLimit >= 0 }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ArtifactConfig.Validate() on a struct where the decompression_file_count_limit key is missing, leaving a.DecompressionFileCountLimit as nil *int.

Common situations: Manually built ArtifactConfig structs in tests/plugins; pre-existing config files from Nomad versions before this limit existed; template engines that omit keys with unset variables; partial merges dropping the field.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• decompression_size_limit must not be nil
• s3_timeout must be set
• decompression_file_count_limit must be >= 0 but found %d
• decompression_size_limit is not a valid size: %w
• decompression_size_limit must be < %d but found %d

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d2bccd0325bed912. Report an issue: GitHub.