paperclipai/paperclip · error · ProtocolError

invalid or missing field: ${field}

Error message

invalid or missing field: ${field}

What it means

requireStringField guard in the protocol decoder: a mandatory string field (requestId, runtimeId, or handle) is missing, not a string, or fails its field-specific regex. The code (malformed_request, invalid_runtime_id, etc.) selects the protocol error; the message names the offending field.

Source

Thrown at packages/tailscale-https-broker/src/protocol.ts:70

}

function asObject(value: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
  if (typeof value !== "object" || value === null || Array.isArray(value)) {
    throw new ProtocolError("malformed_request", "request must be a JSON object");
  }
  return value as Record<string, unknown>;
}

function requireStringField(
  obj: Record<string, unknown>,
  field: string,
  re: RegExp,
  code: ProtocolError["code"],
  requestId: string | null,
): string {
  const value = obj[field];
  if (typeof value !== "string" || !re.test(value)) {
    throw new ProtocolError(code, `invalid or missing field: ${field}`, requestId);
  }
  return value;
}

/**
 * Decode a raw request frame (utf-8 JSON) into a validated BrokerRequest.
 * Throws ProtocolError on any violation; never mutates state.
 */
export function decodeRequest(frame: Buffer | string): BrokerRequest {
  const buf = typeof frame === "string" ? Buffer.from(frame, "utf8") : frame;
  if (buf.byteLength === 0) {
    throw new ProtocolError("malformed_request", "empty request frame");
  }
  if (buf.byteLength > MAX_REQUEST_BYTES) {
    throw new ProtocolError("malformed_request", "request frame exceeds size limit");
  }

  let parsed: unknown;

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

1. Include the named field with a valid value in the request object.
2. Check the protocol schema for the expected field names and types.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/tailscale-https-broker/src/protocol.ts:70 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3cf1e2b85c1143d9. Report an issue: GitHub.