passbolt/passbolt_api · error · InternalErrorException

Invalid request, message validation rules are missing.

Error message

Invalid request, message validation rules are missing.

What it means

MessageValidationService::parseAndValidateMessage validates an armored OpenPGP message against a set of rules (has-key-id, has-exactly-one-recipient, etc.). If the caller passes null rules AND the default rules resolve to an empty array, an InternalErrorException is thrown because running with zero validation rules is an invariant violation / misconfiguration.

Solutions

1. Verify passbolt.gpg configuration (server key fingerprint, keyring) so getDefaultRules() returns rules.
2. Pass an explicit non-empty $rules array when calling parseAndValidateMessage directly.
3. Run `ddev refresh` / healthcheck to confirm GPG setup is valid.
4. Check for custom code filtering out all default rules.

Example fix

// before
MessageValidationService::parseAndValidateMessage($armored, []);
// after
MessageValidationService::parseAndValidateMessage($armored, [MessageValidationService::IS_PARSABLE_ARMORED_MESSAGE_RULE]);

$rules = $rules ?? MessageValidationService::getDefaultRules();
if (!count($rules)) { throw new LogicException('no rules configured'); }

try { parseAndValidateMessage($msg, $rules); } catch (InternalErrorException $e) { /* fix GPG config */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling parseAndValidateMessage() (or via the validation middleware __invoke) when getDefaultRules() returns an empty array — e.g. GPG server key configuration missing so required default rules (from passbolt.gpg config) are not generated.

Common situations: Misconfigured passbolt.php GPG key settings, environment where the server key fingerprint is not set, overridden rules arrays accidentally emptied by integrations.

Understand the failure class

Background: "X is required", "must be set", "cannot be empty": the missing-required-config error family, from Vertex AI project/location to WeChat keys — this error's family across 18 libraries.

Related errors

• A valid OpenPGP key must be provided.
• Could not validate message data.
• Could not validate user data.
• The armored message could not be validated.
• The config for the server private key fingerprint is not…

AI-assisted analysis of passbolt/passbolt_api@31c1bbc10f (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fce7b137785a655d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Service/OpenPGP/MessageValidationService.php:88

     */
    public static function getAsymmetricMessageRules(): array
    {
        return array_merge(self::getDefaultRules(), [
            self::HAS_ASYMMETRIC_PACKET_RULE,
            self::HAS_EXACTLY_ONE_RECIPIENT,
        ]);
    }

    /**
     * @param string $armoredMessage user provided data
     * @param array|null $rules to override default rules
     * @return array key information (see OpenPGPBackendInterface::getKeyInfo)
     */
    public static function parseAndValidateMessage(string $armoredMessage, ?array $rules = null): array
    {
        $rules = $rules ?? self::getDefaultRules();
        if (!count($rules)) {
            throw new InternalErrorException('Invalid request, message validation rules are missing.');
        }

        // Parsing check is mandatory and always done first
        // We don't even try the other rules if this one fails
        try {
            $messageInfo = self::getMessageInfo($armoredMessage);
        } catch (Exception $exception) {
            throw new CustomValidationException(__('The public key could not be parsed.'), [
                'data' => [
                    self::IS_PARSABLE_ARMORED_MESSAGE_RULE => $exception->getMessage(),
                ],
            ]);
        }

        // Other rules are recommended but not mandatory
        // As one may want to see what's inside the message info for debugging purpose
        $validationErrors = [];
        foreach ($rules as $ruleName) {

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