phalcon/cphalcon · error · Phalcon\Forms\Exceptions\SchemaEntryMissingKey

Form schema definition at index {index} is missing required

Error message

Form schema definition at index {index} is missing required key "type"

What it means

ArrayLoader::validateDefinition() requires every definition array to carry a non-empty 'type' key, since the type selects the element factory used to instantiate the element. A definition missing 'type', or with an empty/falsy type value, throws SchemaEntryMissingKey reporting both the index and the key name 'type'.

Source

Thrown at phalcon/Forms/Loader/ArrayLoader.zep:64

        }

        return this->definitions;
    }

    /**
     * @param mixed $definition
     * @param int   $index
     *
     * @throws Exception
     */
    protected function validateDefinition(var definition, int index) -> void
    {
        if typeof definition !== "array" {
            throw new SchemaEntryNotArray(index);
        }

        if !isset definition["type"] || empty definition["type"] {
            throw new SchemaEntryMissingKey(index, "type");
        }

        if !isset definition["name"] || empty definition["name"] {
            throw new SchemaEntryMissingKey(index, "name");
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to b7419de9cd)

Solutions

1. Add a non-empty 'type' key to the definition at the reported index, e.g. ['type' => 'text', 'name' => 'email']
2. If you generate definitions in code, assert isset($def['type']) && $def['type'] !== '' before passing them to the loader
3. Re-check the reported index in the exception message — it points at the exact entry

Example fix

// before
[
  ['name' => 'email']
]

// after
[
  ['type' => 'email', 'name' => 'email']
]

foreach ($definitions as $index => $definition) {
    if (!isset($definition['type']) || $definition['type'] === '') {
        throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
            "Schema entry {$index} is missing a non-empty 'type'"
        );
    }
}

$defs = (new \Phalcon\Forms\Loader\ArrayLoader($definitions))->load();

function hasValidType(array $definition): bool
{
    return isset($definition['type'])
        && is_string($definition['type'])
        && $definition['type'] !== '';
}

try {
    $defs = (new \Phalcon\Forms\Loader\ArrayLoader($definitions))->load();
} catch (\Phalcon\Forms\Exceptions\SchemaEntryMissingKey $e) {
    // e->getMessage() names index and key ('type'); route it to the schema author
    $logger->error($e->getMessage());
    throw $e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A schema entry like ['name' => 'email'] with no 'type' key; an entry with 'type' => '' or 'type' => 0; renaming the key in a generator (e.g. 'element' instead of 'type') without updating the schema.

Common situations: Hand-edited schema files where the type line was deleted; code that builds definitions dynamically and omits the type branch for some fields; schema produced by another tool with different key names.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• Form schema definition at index {index} is missing required
• Form schema definition at index {index} must be an array
• Unknown form element type "{type}"
• JSON form schema is invalid: {detail}
• JSON form schema must decode to an array

AI-assisted analysis of phalcon/cphalcon@b7419de9cd (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bf98ce84e26ee26b. Report an issue: GitHub.