phalcon/cphalcon · error · UnknownServiceType

Unknown service type in parameter on position {}

Error message

Unknown service type in parameter on position {}

What it means

Thrown by Phalcon\Di\Service\Builder::buildParameter() when an argument's 'type' is not one of the three supported strings: 'service', 'parameter', 'instance'. The switch falls through to default and raises UnknownServiceType for the offending position.

Source

Thrown at phalcon/Di/Service/Builder.zep:259

                if fetch instanceArguments, argument["arguments"] {
                    /**
                     * Build the instance with arguments
                     */
                    return container->get(name, instanceArguments);
                }

                /**
                 * The instance parameter does not have arguments for its
                 * constructor
                 */
                return container->get(name);

            default:
                /**
                 * Unknown parameter type
                 */
                throw new UnknownServiceType(position);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resolves an array of parameters
     */
    private function buildParameters(<DiInterface> container,  array arguments) -> array
    {
        var position, argument;
        array buildArguments;

        let buildArguments = [];

        for position, argument in arguments {
            let buildArguments[] = this->buildParameter(
                container,
                position,
                argument

View on GitHub (pinned to b7419de9cd)

Solutions

1. Correct the type to exactly 'service', 'parameter', or 'instance' (lowercase, no extra whitespace).
2. After a Phalcon 3 -> 5 upgrade, sweep all definitions for 'class' type entries and replace with 'instance' plus 'className'.
3. If definitions come from config files, trim/normalize type strings before registering them.

Example fix

// before
'arguments' => [
    ['type' => 'paramater', 'value' => 10],   // typo
],

// after
'arguments' => [
    ['type' => 'parameter', 'value' => 10],
],

const DI_ARGUMENT_TYPES = ['service', 'parameter', 'instance'];

function normalizeDiArguments(array $arguments): array
{
    foreach ($arguments as $i => &$arg) {
        $type = trim((string)($arg['type'] ?? ''));
        if (!in_array($type, DI_ARGUMENT_TYPES, true)) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException("Argument {$i}: unknown type '{$type}'");
        }
        $arg['type'] = $type;
    }
    return $arguments;
}

function isKnownArgumentType(mixed $arg): bool
{
    return is_array($arg) && in_array(trim((string)($arg['type'] ?? '')), ['service', 'parameter', 'instance'], true);
}

try {
    $service = $di->get('foo');
} catch (\Phalcon\Di\Exceptions\UnknownServiceType $e) {
    $logger->error('DI definition has an invalid type: ' . $e->getMessage());
    throw $e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A typo in the type string: 'service ' (trailing space), 'instance ', 'paramater', 'value', 'string', 'scalar', 'class' (Phalcon 3 name), or a non-string value. Thrown at resolve time of the service whose definition contains it.

Common situations: Upgrading Phalcon 3 -> 4/5 and keeping 'type' => 'class'; definitions loaded from YAML/JSON where casing or whitespace differs ('Parameter' vs 'parameter'); translating definitions from another DI container's vocabulary.

Related errors

• Argument at position {} must have a type
• Service '{}' is required in parameter on position {}
• Service 'value' is required in parameter on position {}
• Service 'className' is required in parameter on position {}
• A dependency injection container is required to access the '

AI-assisted analysis of phalcon/cphalcon@b7419de9cd (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/24d5973eccf8056d. Report an issue: GitHub.