hashicorp/nomad · error

Unknown affinity operator %q

Error message

Unknown affinity operator %q

What it means

Affinity.Validate() only accepts a fixed set of operands: semver, version, =, ==, is, !=, not, <, <=, >, >=. Any other operand hits the default case and produces 'Unknown affinity operator %q'. This catches misspelled or unsupported operators before job registration.

Source

Thrown at nomad/structs/structs.go:10223

		}
	case ConstraintRegex:
		if _, err := regexp.Compile(a.RTarget); err != nil {
			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Regular expression failed to compile: %v", err))
		}
	case ConstraintVersion:
		if _, err := version.NewConstraint(a.RTarget); err != nil {
			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Version affinity is invalid: %v", err))
		}
	case ConstraintSemver:
		if _, err := semver.NewConstraint(a.RTarget); err != nil {
			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Semver affinity is invalid: %v", err))
		}
	case "=", "==", "is", "!=", "not", "<", "<=", ">", ">=":
		if a.RTarget == "" {
			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Operator %q requires an RTarget", a.Operand))
		}
	default:
		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Unknown affinity operator %q", a.Operand))
	}

	// Ensure we have an LTarget
	if a.LTarget == "" {
		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("No LTarget provided but is required"))
	}

	// Ensure that weight is between -100 and 100, and not zero
	if a.Weight == 0 {
		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Affinity weight cannot be zero"))
	}

	if a.Weight > 100 || a.Weight < -100 {
		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("Affinity weight must be within the range [-100,100]"))
	}

	return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 482b49bf1a)

Solutions

1. Use one of the supported operators: version, semver, =, ==, is, !=, not, <, <=, >, >=.
2. If you need regex/set matching, note those exist only for constraints, not affinities; restructure using a supported operator or move the check into a constraint.
3. Check the Nomad docs version you target — operator support may differ across versions.

Example fix

// before
affinity {
  attribute = "${meta.runtime}"
  operator  = "contains"
  value     = "java"
}
// after
affinity {
  attribute = "${meta.runtime}"
  operator  = "is"
  value     = "java"
}

allowed := map[string]bool{"version":true,"semver":true,"=":true,"==":true,"is":true,"!=":true,"not":true,"<":true,"<=":true,">":true,">=":true}
if !allowed[a.Operand] { return fmt.Errorf("unsupported affinity operator %q", a.Operand) }

When it happens

Trigger: Submitting a job with an affinity whose operand is not in the allowed set, e.g. operator = "regex", "contains", "~>", or a misspelling like "equals" in the affinity block or the /v1/jobs API payload.

Common situations: Confusing constraint operators with affinity operators (some constraint-only operators like regexp/set_contains are invalid for affinities), typos, or copying a constraint block into an affinity block without adjusting the operator.

Related errors

• Semver affinity is invalid: %v
• No LTarget provided but is required
• Affinity weight cannot be zero
• Affinity weight must be within the range [-100,100]
• Disconnect cannot be configured with both lost_after and sto

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/nomad@482b49bf1a (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0e6d5a3fc64b4c85. Report an issue: GitHub.