octobercms/october · error · Twig\Error\SyntaxError

The "%s" modifier takes exactly one argument (0 given).

Error message

The "%s" modifier takes exactly one argument (0 given).

What it means

The ttl modifier of the {% cache %} tag requires exactly one argument. If the parser sees the closing parenthesis immediately after the opening one, it throws this SyntaxError - the TTL value was omitted entirely ({% cache 'key' ttl() %}).

Source

Thrown at modules/cms/twig/tokenparser/CacheTokenParser.php:36

     * @return PartialNode
     */
    public function parse(Token $token): Node
    {
        $stream = $this->parser->getStream();
        $key = $this->parser->parseExpression();

        $ttl = null;
        while ($stream->test(Token::NAME_TYPE)) {
            $k = $stream->getCurrent()->getValue();
            if (!in_array($k, ['ttl'], true)) {
                throw new SyntaxError(sprintf('Unknown "%s" configuration.', $k), $stream->getCurrent()->getLine(), $stream->getSourceContext());
            }

            $stream->next();
            $stream->expect(Token::OPERATOR_TYPE, '(');
            $line = $stream->getCurrent()->getLine();
            if ($stream->test(Token::PUNCTUATION_TYPE, ')')) {
                throw new SyntaxError(sprintf('The "%s" modifier takes exactly one argument (0 given).', $k), $line, $stream->getSourceContext());
            }

            $arg = $this->parser->parseExpression();
            if ($stream->test(Token::PUNCTUATION_TYPE, ',')) {
                throw new SyntaxError(sprintf('The "%s" modifier takes exactly one argument (2 given).', $k), $line, $stream->getSourceContext());
            }
            $stream->expect(Token::PUNCTUATION_TYPE, ')');

            if ($k === 'ttl') {
                $ttl = $arg;
            }
        }

        $stream->expect(Token::BLOCK_END_TYPE);
        $body = $this->parser->subparse([$this, 'decideCacheEnd'], true);
        $stream->expect(Token::BLOCK_END_TYPE);

        $body = new CacheNode($key, $ttl, $body, $token->getLine());

View on GitHub (pinned to b608633a7e)

Solutions

1. Supply a single TTL value in minutes: {% cache 'sidebar' ttl(3600) %}.
2. If you want the default TTL, drop the modifier entirely: {% cache 'sidebar' %}.
3. Re-save the template and reload - the error is compile-time, so the page will not render until fixed.

Example fix

{# before #}
{% cache 'sidebar' ttl() %}

{# after #}
{% cache 'sidebar' ttl(3600) %}

$env = app('twig.environment');
try {
    $env->parse($env->tokenize(new \Twig\Source($templateBody, $fileName)));
} catch (\Twig\Error\SyntaxError $e) {
    // reject empty ttl() before the template reaches production
}

try {
    $env->parse($env->tokenize(new \Twig\Source($body, $name)));
} catch (\Twig\Error\SyntaxError $e) {
    // flag 'takes exactly one argument (0 given)' for immediate fix
}

When it happens

Trigger: Writing {% cache 'sidebar' ttl() %} with empty parentheses during template compilation; typically a placeholder that was never filled in or a copy-paste that lost the value.

Common situations: Template scaffolding left with an empty ttl(); refactoring that removed the value but kept the parens; misunderstanding ttl as a flag.

Related errors

• Unknown "%s" configuration.
• The "%s" modifier takes exactly one argument (2 given).
• Invalid syntax in the component tag. Line %s
• Invalid syntax in the content tag. Line %s
• Invalid syntax in the framework tag. Line %s

AI-assisted analysis of octobercms/october@b608633a7e (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ec52e2da28a7cddd. Report an issue: GitHub.