phacility/phabricator · warning · Exception

Value "%s" is not valid for setting "%s": valid values are %

Error message

Value "%s" is not valid for setting "%s": valid values are %s.

What it means

Base class for settings rendered as flat <select> dropdowns. validateTransactionValue() first casts the value with phutil_string_cast() (so scalars become strings), allows empty (unset), then throws for any value not a key of getSelectOptions(). It guards the persisted enum against stale or forged keys, same contract as the option-group variant.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/settings/setting/PhabricatorSelectSetting.php:58

      throw new Exception(
        pht(
          'Empty string is not a valid setting for "%s".',
          $this->getSettingName()));
    }

    $this->validateTransactionValue($value);
  }

  final public function validateTransactionValue($value) {
    $value = phutil_string_cast($value);
    if (!strlen($value)) {
      return;
    }

    $options = $this->getSelectOptions();

    if (!isset($options[$value])) {
      throw new Exception(
        pht(
          'Value "%s" is not valid for setting "%s": valid values are %s.',
          $value,
          $this->getSettingName(),
          implode(', ', array_keys($options))));
    }

    return;
  }

  public function getTransactionNewValue($value) {
    $value = phutil_string_cast($value);

    if (!strlen($value)) {
      return null;
    }

    return $value;

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

1. Submit a key exactly as listed in the current dropdown/options map
2. After upgrading, re-open the settings form so the client posts current keys
3. For custom settings, keep old keys as hidden/legacy options or migrate stored values when renaming

function isValidSelectSettingValue(PhabricatorSelectSetting $setting, $value) {
  $value = phutil_string_cast($value);
  if (!strlen($value)) { return true; } // empty = unset, allowed
  return isset($setting->getSelectOptions()[$value]);
}

try {
  // write the setting
} catch (Exception $ex) {
  // invalid enum key: re-read the current options and resubmit
}

When it happens

Trigger: A settings transaction whose value (after string cast) is not one of the declared option keys - removed options after an upgrade, arbitrary strings from crafted requests, or numeric values that cast to a string with no matching key.

Common situations: Version skew between a saved client form and current options; Conduit/API callers storing literal option keys; custom settings subclasses whose option list changed without migrating stored values.

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

• Value "%s" is not valid for setting "%s": valid values are %
• Unknown repository operation target type "%s" (in target "%s
• Unknown condition "%s"!
• Timezone "%s" is not a valid timezone identifier.
• Service "%s" is unrecognized, restricted, or you do not have

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ece6a0b0e4705b58. Report an issue: GitHub.