method name %q is missing from Routing.Methods config param

Error message

method name %q is missing from Routing.Methods config param

What it means

Methods.Check in config/routing.go verifies that the Routing.Methods map contains an entry for every method name in MethodNameList. If any known method (e.g. provide, find-providers, get-ipns, put-ipns) is absent, this error is returned. The map is required to be exhaustive so routing behavior is always fully defined.

Source

Thrown at config/routing.go:76

	// Router type ID. See RouterType for more info.
	Type RouterType

	// Parameters are extra configuration that this router might need.
	// A common one for HTTP router is "Endpoint".
	Parameters any
}

type (
	Routers map[string]RouterParser
	Methods map[MethodName]Method
)

func (m Methods) Check() error {
	// Check supported methods
	for _, mn := range MethodNameList {
		_, ok := m[mn]
		if !ok {
			return fmt.Errorf("method name %q is missing from Routing.Methods config param", mn)
		}
	}

	// Check unsupported methods
	for k := range m {
		seen := slices.Contains(MethodNameList, k)

		if seen {
			continue
		}

		return fmt.Errorf("method name %q is not a supported method on Routing.Methods config param", k)
	}

	return nil
}

type RouterParser struct {

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

Add the missing method key named in the error to Routing.Methods with a valid router value (e.g. "none", "dht", "delegated", or a custom router name).
Run `ipfs config --json Routing.Methods '{...complete map...}'` with every entry from MethodNameList.
If unsure, delete Routing.Methods and use Routing.Type defaults instead.

Example fix

// before (config.json)
"Routing": { "Methods": { "provide": "delegated" } }
// after
"Routing": { "Methods": { "provide": "delegated", "find-providers": "dht", "get-ipns": "dht", "put-ipns": "dht" } }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

m, err := config.ParseMethods("...") // or build the map
if err := methods.Check(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("Routing.Methods incomplete: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

if err := methods.Check(); err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("routing config invalid: %w", err) }

Prevention

Always define every key listed in config.MethodNameList when setting Routing.Methods
After kubo upgrades, re-check Routing.Methods for newly required method names
Prefer Routing.Type over a hand-built Methods map when defaults suffice

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a config where Routing.Methods is present but missing one of the required method keys, e.g. setting only {"provide":"custom"} and omitting the others; Check is called by TestMethods and Parse during config parsing/validation.

Common situations: Partially migrating Routing.Type to a delegating router and hand-writing only the methods you think you need; older configs from a previous kubo version missing newly added method names after an upgrade.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3c49fd6720190914. Report an issue: GitHub.