hyperledger/fabric · error

expected two space separated tokens, but got %d

Error message

expected two space separated tokens, but got %d

What it means

ImplicitMetaFromString parses strings like 'ANY Readers' into an ImplicitMetaPolicy proto. It splits the input on spaces and requires exactly two tokens (rule + sub-policy name); any other token count throws this error.

Source

Thrown at common/policies/implicitmetaparser.go:19

/*
Copyright IBM Corp. All Rights Reserved.

SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
*/

package policies

import (
	"strings"

	cb "github.com/hyperledger/fabric-protos-go-apiv2/common"
	"github.com/pkg/errors"
)

func ImplicitMetaFromString(input string) (*cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy, error) {
	args := strings.Split(input, " ")
	if len(args) != 2 {
		return nil, errors.Errorf("expected two space separated tokens, but got %d", len(args))
	}

	res := &cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy{
		SubPolicy: args[1],
	}

	switch args[0] {
	case cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_ANY.String():
		res.Rule = cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_ANY
	case cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_ALL.String():
		res.Rule = cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_ALL
	case cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_MAJORITY.String():
		res.Rule = cb.ImplicitMetaPolicy_MAJORITY
	default:
		return nil, errors.Errorf("unknown rule type '%s', expected ALL, ANY, or MAJORITY", args[0])
	}

	return res, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Supply exactly two space-separated tokens: a rule (ALL/ANY/MAJORITY) and a sub-policy name, e.g. 'ANY Readers'
2. Trim surrounding whitespace and remove extra spaces/tabs from the policy string
3. Check the policy value in configtx.yaml or channel update config for typos or missing sub-policy name

Example fix

// before
ImplicitMetaFromString("MAJORITY")
// after
ImplicitMetaFromString("MAJORITY Admins")

func validImplicitMeta(s string) bool {
  parts := strings.Fields(s)
  return len(parts) == 2 &&
    (parts[0] == "ALL" || parts[0] == "ANY" || parts[0] == "MAJORITY")
}
// call ImplicitMetaFromString only if validImplicitMeta(input)

policy, err := policies.ImplicitMetaFromString(input)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "expected two space separated tokens") {
  return fmt.Errorf("invalid implicit meta policy %q: use 'RULE SubPolicy'", input)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ImplicitMetaFromString with a string that does not contain exactly one space-separated pair, e.g. 'READERS', 'ANY Writers extra', or a value with tabs/multiple spaces collapsing incorrectly.

Common situations: Typo or omission in channel config policy values like 'MAJORITY' without the sub-policy name; copying a policy string with an accidental extra word; programmatic construction with an empty or trimmed-to-empty input.

Related errors

• unknown rule type '%s', expected ALL, ANY, or MAJORITY
• policy %s at path %s was nil
• implicit policy %s at path %s did not compile
• not a valid hashedDataNs [%s]
• could not parse RevocationList

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8fe92f3e6c9e0b7d. Report an issue: GitHub.