hashicorp/nomad · error

only one 'region_limit' block allowed per limit

Error message

only one 'region_limit' block allowed per limit

What it means

Returned by parseQuotaResource while parsing an HCL quota limit: more than one region_limit block appeared inside a single limit, but the schema allows at most one.

Source

Thrown at command/quota_apply.go:255

			if err := parseQuotaResource(limit.RegionLimit, o); err != nil {
				return multierror.Prefix(err, "region_limit ->")
			}
		}

		*result = append(*result, &limit)
	}

	return nil
}

// parseQuotaResource parses the region_limit resources
func parseQuotaResource(result *api.QuotaResources, list *ast.ObjectList) error {
	list = list.Elem()
	if len(list.Items) == 0 {
		return nil
	}
	if len(list.Items) > 1 {
		return fmt.Errorf("only one 'region_limit' block allowed per limit")
	}

	// Get our resource object
	o := list.Items[0]

	// We need this later
	var listVal *ast.ObjectList
	if ot, ok := o.Val.(*ast.ObjectType); ok {
		listVal = ot.List
	} else {
		return fmt.Errorf("resource: should be an object")
	}

	// Check for invalid keys
	valid := []string{
		"cores",
		"cpu",
		"memory",

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Keep only one region_limit per limit block; delete the duplicate.
2. If you need different resource caps per region, use separate `limit` blocks, each with its own region and region_limit.
3. Run `nomad quota apply -parse-only` to validate before applying.

Example fix

// before
limit {
  region = "global"
  region_limit { cpu = 100 }
  region_limit { memory_mb = 512 }
}

// after
limit {
  region = "global"
  region_limit { cpu = 100 memory_mb = 512 }
}

const count = (hclBlock.match(/region_limit\s*\{/g) || []).length;
if (count > 1) throw new Error('only one region_limit allowed per limit block; split into separate limit blocks');

When it happens

Trigger: Declaring `region_limit` twice inside a single `limit` block in the quota HCL file.

Common situations: Merging quota files or copy-pasting limits where a second region_limit block was left behind; combining region-specific limits into one block instead of separate limit blocks.

Related errors

• error parsing: root should be an object
• limit should be an object
• resource: should be an object
• invalid variables limit: %v
• invalid host_volumes limit: %v

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9cf43357fbcf4fcb. Report an issue: GitHub.