ipfs/kubo · error

cannot create key with name 'self'

Error message

cannot create key with name 'self'

What it means

Reserved-name guard in `ipfs key gen`: the requested key name is literally 'self', which the keystore reserves for the node's own identity key. Creating a user key with that name would shadow the identity peer, so the command refuses before touching the keystore.

Source

Thrown at core/commands/keystore.go:115

		ke.OptionIPNSBase,
	},
	Arguments: []cmds.Argument{
		cmds.StringArg("name", true, false, "name of key to create"),
	},
	Run: func(req *cmds.Request, res cmds.ResponseEmitter, env cmds.Environment) error {
		api, err := cmdenv.GetApi(env, req)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

		typ, f := req.Options[keyStoreTypeOptionName].(string)
		if !f {
			return errors.New("please specify a key type with --type")
		}

		name := req.Arguments[0]
		if name == "self" {
			return errors.New("cannot create key with name 'self'")
		}

		opts := []options.KeyGenerateOption{options.Key.Type(typ)}

		size, sizefound := req.Options[keyStoreSizeOptionName].(int)
		if sizefound {
			opts = append(opts, options.Key.Size(size))
		}
		keyEnc, err := ke.KeyEncoderFromString(req.Options[ke.OptionIPNSBase.Name()].(string))
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

		key, err := api.Key().Generate(req.Context, name, opts...)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Pick a different name for the key, e.g. ipfs key gen mykey --type=ed25519
2. Use ipfs id if you intended to inspect the node's own 'self' identity
3. Reference the self identity directly with the name 'self' in commands like ipfs name publish

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at core/commands/keystore.go:115 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5cbaf0dd8194e2e7. Report an issue: GitHub.