keras-team/keras · error · ValueError

Invalid format for argument `axes`: it should contain two el

Error message

Invalid format for argument `axes`: it should contain two elements. Received: axes={axes}

What it means

Error "Invalid format for argument `axes`: it should contain two elements. Received: axes={axes}" thrown in keras-team/keras.

Source

Thrown at keras/src/layers/merging/dot.py:251

            before taking the dot product. If set to `True`, then
            the output of the dot product is the cosine proximity
            between the two samples.
        **kwargs: Standard layer keyword arguments.

    Returns:
        A tensor, the dot product of the samples from the inputs.
    """

    def __init__(self, axes, normalize=False, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        if not isinstance(axes, int):
            if not isinstance(axes, (list, tuple)):
                raise TypeError(
                    f"Invalid type for argument `axes`: it should be "
                    f"a list or an int. Received: axes={axes}"
                )
            if len(axes) != 2:
                raise ValueError(
                    f"Invalid format for argument `axes`: it should contain "
                    f"two elements. Received: axes={axes}"
                )
            if not isinstance(axes[0], int) or not isinstance(axes[1], int):
                raise ValueError(
                    f"Invalid format for argument `axes`: list elements should "
                    f"be integers. Received: axes={axes}"
                )
        self.axes = axes
        self.normalize = normalize
        self.supports_masking = True
        self._reshape_required = False

    def build(self, input_shape):
        # Used purely for shape validation.
        if (
            not isinstance(input_shape[0], (tuple, list))
            or len(input_shape) != 2

View on GitHub (pinned to 7a34a03db6)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at keras/src/layers/merging/dot.py:251 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of keras-team/keras@7a34a03db6 (2026-08-25). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1f4348f47406b363. Report an issue: GitHub.