medusajs/medusa · error · MedusaError

application_method.type should be one of ${allTypes.join(",

Error message

application_method.type should be one of ${allTypes.join(", ")}

What it means

application_method.type must be one of the ApplicationMethodType values (fixed, percentage, buyget... per the installed version). Any other string throws INVALID_DATA listing the valid types.

Source

Thrown at packages/modules/promotion/src/utils/validations/application-method.ts:118

    throw new MedusaError(
      MedusaError.Types.INVALID_DATA,
      `application_method.max_quantity is not allowed to be set for allocation (${ApplicationMethodAllocation.ACROSS})`
    )
  }

  if (!allTargetTypes.includes(targetType)) {
    throw new MedusaError(
      MedusaError.Types.INVALID_DATA,
      `application_method.target_type should be one of ${allTargetTypes.join(
        ", "
      )}`
    )
  }

  const allTypes: string[] = Object.values(ApplicationMethodType)

  if (!allTypes.includes(applicationMethodType)) {
    throw new MedusaError(
      MedusaError.Types.INVALID_DATA,
      `application_method.type should be one of ${allTypes.join(", ")}`
    )
  }

  if (
    allowedAllocationTargetTypes.includes(targetType) &&
    !allowedAllocationTypes.includes(allocation || "")
  ) {
    throw new MedusaError(
      MedusaError.Types.INVALID_DATA,
      `application_method.allocation should be either '${allowedAllocationTypes.join(
        " OR "
      )}' when application_method.target_type is either '${allowedAllocationTargetTypes.join(
        " OR "
      )}'`
    )
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 5e06e544a2)

Solutions

Set type to a valid ApplicationMethodType ('fixed', 'percentage', 'buyget' as available)
After upgrading Medusa, re-check the enum — re-export or inline the constants from @medusajs/utils rather than hardcoding strings
Add a zod/enum check in the API layer

Example fix

// before
application_method: { type: "percent", value: 10, ... }

// after
import { ApplicationMethodType } from "@medusajs/utils"
application_method: { type: ApplicationMethodType.PERCENTAGE, value: 10, ... }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

const allTypes = Object.values(ApplicationMethodType)
if (!allTypes.includes(am.type)) throw new Error(`invalid application_method.type: ${am.type}`)

Type guard

import { ApplicationMethodType } from "@medusajs/utils"
const isValidApplicationMethodType = (t: string): t is ApplicationMethodType =>
  (Object.values(ApplicationMethodType) as string[]).includes(t)

Try / catch

try { await createPromotions(...) } catch (e) { if (e.type === MedusaError.Types.INVALID_DATA && /application_method.type should be one of/.test(e.message)) { /* map legacy value to current enum and retry */ } throw e }

Prevention

Import enums from the package instead of hardcoding
Recheck enums after Medusa upgrades
Add zod enum validation at the API boundary

When it happens

Trigger: Passing application_method.type 'flat', 'percent', 'absolute', or an outdated value no longer in the enum.

Common situations: Version upgrades that renamed/removed enum members, integrations written from memory instead of the types package, case mistakes ('Percentage').

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of medusajs/medusa@5e06e544a2 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1f8d7d61c49de82f. Report an issue: GitHub.