lima-vm/lima · error

invalid network name %#q: %w

Error message

invalid network name %#q: %w

What it means

Each network name in networks.yaml becomes a key used to build file paths and sudoers directives, so it must pass identifiers.Validate. An invalid name aborts config validation with the offending name quoted.

Source

Thrown at pkg/networks/validate.go:36

)

func (c *Config) Validate() error {
	// The group name and the per-network name/mode/interface are interpolated
	// verbatim into the sudoers file (sudoers.go) and into the socket_vmnet
	// command that reconcile.go runs via sudo after splitting it on spaces
	// (commands.go). A value with whitespace injects an extra argument, and a
	// newline in a network name adds an arbitrary directive to the generated
	// sudoers file, so require them to be valid identifiers. Interface is empty
	// for non-bridged networks, and group defaults to "admin" when unset, so
	// only validate those when a value is actually present.
	if c.Group != "" {
		if err := identifiers.Validate(c.Group); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("invalid group %#q: %w", c.Group, err)
		}
	}
	for name, nw := range c.Networks {
		if err := identifiers.Validate(name); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("invalid network name %#q: %w", name, err)
		}
		if nw.Mode != "" {
			if err := identifiers.Validate(nw.Mode); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("invalid mode %#q for network %#q: %w", nw.Mode, name, err)
			}
		}
		if nw.Interface != "" {
			if err := identifiers.Validate(nw.Interface); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("invalid interface %#q for network %#q: %w", nw.Interface, name, err)
			}
		}
	}

	// validate all paths.* values
	paths := reflect.ValueOf(&c.Paths).Elem()
	pathsMap := make(map[string]string, paths.NumField())
	var socketVMNetNotFound bool
	for i := range paths.NumField() {

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Rename the network key in networks.yaml to a valid identifier (letters, digits, underscore, hyphen where allowed) and update all instance YAML `networks` references to the new name.
2. Re-run validation to confirm no other entries fail.
3. Check for invisible characters (tabs, non-breaking spaces) with cat -A networks.yaml.
4. Regenerate the config from the stock template if multiple entries are broken.

Example fix

# before (networks.yaml)
networks:
  "lima user v2":
    mode: user-v2
# after
networks:
  lima-user-v2:
    mode: user-v2

function validateNetworkName(name) {
  if (!/^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_-]*$/.test(name)) {
    return `invalid network name: ${JSON.stringify(name)}`;
  }
  return null;
}
Object.keys(config.networks).forEach(validateNetworkName);

function isValidNetworkName(name) {
  return typeof name === 'string' && /^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_-]*$/.test(name);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Defining a network entry in <LIMA_HOME>/_config/networks.yaml whose key (e.g. under `networks:`) contains whitespace, slashes, newlines, or other non-identifier characters, then running validation via networks.Validate().

Common situations: Hand-edited networks.yaml with a typo like 'lima user-v2' or a name with a trailing colon/space; programmatically generated configs injecting bad keys; YAML merging producing unexpected key names.

Related errors

• invalid group %#q: %w
• invalid mode %#q for network %#q: %w
• invalid interface %#q for network %#q: %w
• path %#q is not an absolute path
• path %#q contains whitespace

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/863c84e43b506b78. Report an issue: GitHub.