laravel/framework · error · InvalidArgumentException

Array value for key [ ] must be a boolean, found.

Error message

Array value for key [%s] must be a boolean, %s found.

What it means

Thrown by Arr::boolean() when the resolved dot-notation value is not strictly a bool. No coercion: strings '1'/'true', ints 1/0, and null all fail.

Solutions

1. Pass a bool default: Arr::boolean($data, 'key', false).
2. Normalize input: filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN) before storing.
3. Use Arr::get() and cast manually if mixed truthy values are expected.

Example fix

// before
$ok = Arr::boolean($input, 'enabled'); // stored as '1' throws
// after
$ok = Arr::boolean($input, 'enabled', false);
// or normalize:
$input['enabled'] = filter_var($input['enabled'] ?? false, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN);

$raw = Arr::get($data, 'enabled');
if (! is_bool($raw)) {
    $raw = filter_var($raw, FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN, FILTER_NULL_ON_FAILURE) ?? false;
}
// Then read with bool in hand, or normalize source before lookup.

function isStrictBool(mixed $value): bool { return is_bool($value); }

try {
    $ok = Arr::boolean($input, 'enabled');
} catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
    $ok = false;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Arr::boolean($data, 'key') where the value is a non-bool (string 'true', int 1, null from a miss).

Common situations: Parsing form/API input where booleans arrive as '1'/0 strings; assuming config flags are bools when they are strings.

Related errors

• Array value for key [ ] must be a float, found.
• Array value for key [ ] must be a string, found.
• Array value for key [ ] must be an array, found.
• Array value for key [ ] must be an integer, found.
• Items cannot be represented by a scalar value.

AI-assisted analysis of laravel/framework@e0f6eb3518 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b97f7e492e2ed88c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Illuminate/Collections/Arr.php:105

            throw new InvalidArgumentException(
                sprintf('Array value for key [%s] must be an array, %s found.', $key, gettype($value))
            );
        }

        return $value;
    }

    /**
     * Get a boolean item from an array using "dot" notation.
     *
     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException
     */
    public static function boolean(ArrayAccess|array $array, string|int|null $key, ?bool $default = null): bool
    {
        $value = Arr::get($array, $key, $default);

        if (! is_bool($value)) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException(
                sprintf('Array value for key [%s] must be a boolean, %s found.', $key, gettype($value))
            );
        }

        return $value;
    }

    /**
     * Collapse an array of arrays into a single array.
     *
     * @param  iterable  $array
     * @return array
     */
    public static function collapse($array)
    {
        $results = [];

        foreach ($array as $values) {

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