method name %q is not a supported method on Routing.Methods

Error message

method name %q is not a supported method on Routing.Methods config param

What it means

Methods.Check also rejects unknown keys: any method name in Routing.Methods that is not present in MethodNameList produces this error. Only a fixed, versioned set of routing method names is supported, preventing typos or stale names from silently being ignored.

Source

Thrown at config/routing.go:88

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 {
	Router
}

func (r *RouterParser) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
	out := Router{}
	out.Parameters = &json.RawMessage{}
	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &out); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	raw := out.Parameters.(*json.RawMessage)

	var p any

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

Remove or rename the offending key in Routing.Methods so it matches a supported name from MethodNameList exactly.
Check the exact supported names for your kubo version (docs/config.md, Routing.Methods section).
Regenerate the config section with `ipfs config --json Routing.Methods '...'` instead of manual JSON editing to catch typos.

Example fix

// before (config.json)
"Routing": { "Methods": { "findprovider": "dht" } }
// after
"Routing": { "Methods": { "find-providers": "dht" } }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for k := range methods {
    if !slices.Contains(config.MethodNameList, k) {
        return fmt.Errorf("unsupported Routing.Methods key: %q", k)
    }
}

Try / catch

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

Prevention

Copy method names exactly from docs/config.md for your kubo version
Use `ipfs config --json Routing.Methods '...'` to avoid JSON typos
Diff Routing.Methods keys against MethodNameList after upgrades

When it happens

Trigger: Including a key in Routing.Methods that is not in MethodNameList, e.g. a misspelled "findprovider" or a method name removed in a newer kubo version; Check runs during Parse/TestMethods of the routing config.

Common situations: Typos when hand-editing config.json, copying method names from blog posts about older kubo versions, or renaming methods after a kubo upgrade so old keys become unsupported.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c411ce8fb7d2aceb. Report an issue: GitHub.