ipfs/kubo · error

unrecognized export format: %s

Error message

unrecognized export format: %s

What it means

Switch-default guard in `ipfs key export`: the value of the --format option is not one of the supported formats (libp2p-protobuf-cleartext or pem-pkcs8-cleartext). A plain sentinel error identifying the unsupported format string the user passed.

Source

Thrown at core/commands/keystore.go:257

			if secpKey, ok := stdKey.(*crypto.Secp256k1PrivateKey); ok {
				// crypto/x509 does not support the secp256k1 curve
				formattedKey, err = marshalSecp256k1PrivateKey(secpKey)
			} else {
				// This function supports a restricted list of public key algorithms,
				// but we generate and use only the RSA and ed25519 types that are on that list.
				formattedKey, err = x509.MarshalPKCS8PrivateKey(stdKey)
			}
			if err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("marshalling key to PKCS8 format: %w", err)
			}

		case keyFormatLibp2pCleartextOption:
			formattedKey, err = crypto.MarshalPrivateKey(sk)
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}
		default:
			return fmt.Errorf("unrecognized export format: %s", exportFormat)
		}

		return res.Emit(bytes.NewReader(formattedKey))
	},
	PostRun: cmds.PostRunMap{
		cmds.CLI: func(res cmds.Response, re cmds.ResponseEmitter) error {
			req := res.Request()

			v, err := res.Next()
			if err != nil {
				return err
			}

			outReader, ok := v.(io.Reader)
			if !ok {
				return e.New(e.TypeErr(outReader, v))
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Use --format=libp2p-protobuf-cleartext for the native libp2p encoding
2. Use --format=pem-pkcs8-cleartext for a PEM-encoded PKCS8 private key
3. Omit --format to accept the default (libp2p-protobuf-cleartext)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at core/commands/keystore.go:257 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/946c6b146f74507d. Report an issue: GitHub.