passbolt/passbolt_api · error · InternalErrorException

Could not parse the self registration settings found in…

Error message

Could not parse the self registration settings found in database.

What it means

Thrown by SelfRegistrationGetSettingsService::getSettings when the `value` column of the self-registration settings record in the database cannot be json_decode'd (returns null). The settings payload is expected to be valid JSON, so a parse failure indicates corrupted or manually edited data. It is wrapped in an InternalErrorException (HTTP 500).

Solutions

Inspect the self-registration settings row in the database and fix or re-serialize the `value` field as valid JSON.
Delete the corrupted settings row so the service falls back to getDefaultSettings(), then re-save settings via the API.
Re-run `ddev refresh` / migrations to rule out partially applied schema changes, and verify no truncation occurred.

Example fix

// before (corrupted DB row)
SELECT value FROM organization_settings WHERE property = 'self-registration';
-- value: {"providers":["email",  <- truncated

// after: fix or delete the row so defaults apply
DELETE FROM organization_settings WHERE property = 'self-registration';
-- or UPDATE with valid JSON: '{"providers":["email"]}'

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

$value = $settings->get('value');
$decoded = json_decode($value, true);
if (!is_string($value) || json_last_error() !== JSON_ERROR_NONE) {
    // repair or fall back to defaults before calling the service
}

Type guard

function isValidJsonSettings(?string $raw): bool {
    if ($raw === null) return false;
    json_decode($raw, true);
    return json_last_error() === JSON_ERROR_NONE;
}

Try / catch

try {
    $settings = $service->getSettings();
} catch (InternalErrorException $e) {
    // fall back to defaults and log/alert about the corrupted DB row
    $settings = $defaultSettingsService->getDefaultSettings();
}

Prevention

Never hand-edit organization_settings rows; always use the API.
Use JSON columns / parameterized writes so payloads cannot be truncated.
Add a health check that json_decode-decodes stored settings and alerts on failure.
After DB restores or migrations, verify settings payloads parse.

When it happens

Trigger: GET /self-registration.json is called while the settings row in the `organization_settings` table contains malformed JSON in its `value` field (json_decode returns null and the value is not null itself).

Common situations: Settings were hand-edited directly in the database with invalid JSON; a migration or script truncated the JSON column; database encoding issues mangled the stored string; an old buggy writer version stored non-JSON content.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of passbolt/passbolt_api@31c1bbc10f (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aee2640cd5bb954e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/PassboltCe/SelfRegistration/src/Service/SelfRegistrationGetSettingsService.php:44

     * Read the self registration settings in the DB
     * If not found, the default settings are returned
     * A validation error is thrown if the settings in the DB are not valid
     *
     * @return array
     * @throws \Cake\Http\Exception\InternalErrorException if the data in the DB is not valid
     */
    public function getSettings(): array
    {
        /** @var \App\Model\Table\OrganizationSettingsTable $OrganizationSettings */
        $OrganizationSettings = TableRegistry::getTableLocator()->get('OrganizationSettings');
        $settings = $OrganizationSettings->getByProperty(self::USER_SELF_REGISTRATION_SETTINGS_PROPERTY_NAME);
        if (is_null($settings)) {
            return $this->getDefaultSettings();
        }

        $value = json_decode($settings->get('value'), true);
        if (is_null($value)) {
            throw new InternalErrorException(
                __('Could not parse the self registration settings found in database.')
            );
        }
        $form = $this->getFormFromData($value);
        if (!$form->execute($value)) {
            $validationException = new FormValidationException(
                __('Could not validate the self registration settings found in database.'),
                $form
            );

            throw new InternalErrorException($validationException->getMessage(), 500, $validationException);
        }

        return $this->getRenderedValue($settings, $form);
    }

    /**
     * @return array<null>

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