phalcon/cphalcon · error · Phalcon\Config\Exceptions\MissingConfigOption

You must provide 'adapter' option in factory config paramete

Error message

You must provide 'adapter' option in factory config parameter.

What it means

The companion check to filePath: the factory config array must also contain an 'adapter' key, otherwise MissingConfigOption('adapter') is thrown. Adapter inference from the file extension only happens for plain string input — with array input the adapter must be explicit.

Source

Thrown at phalcon/Config/ConfigFactory.zep:227

        this->checkConfigArray(config);

        return config;
    }

    /**
     * @param array $config
     *
     * @throws Exception
     */
    private function checkConfigArray(array config) -> void
    {
        if true !== isset(config["filePath"]) {
            throw new MissingConfigOption("filePath");
        }

        if true !== isset(config["adapter"]) {
            throw new MissingConfigOption("adapter");
        }
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to b7419de9cd)

Solutions

1. Add the adapter key: ['adapter' => 'ini', 'filePath' => 'config.ini'] (json, php, yaml also valid)
2. Or pass just the path string so the factory infers the adapter from the extension

Example fix

// before
$config = $factory->load(['filePath' => '/etc/myapp/config.ini']);

// after
$config = $factory->load([
    'adapter'  => 'ini',
    'filePath' => '/etc/myapp/config.ini',
]);

$configArray = ['filePath' => '/etc/myapp/config.ini'];
$configArray['adapter'] ??= pathinfo($configArray['filePath'], PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
if (empty($configArray['adapter'])) {
    throw new InvalidArgumentException('ConfigFactory config is missing the "adapter" key');
}
$config = $factory->load($configArray);

try {
    $config = $factory->load($configArray);
} catch (\Phalcon\Config\ConfigFactory\Exception\MissingConfigOption $e) {
    if (strpos($e->getMessage(), 'adapter') !== false) {
        // Derive the adapter from the extension and retry
        $configArray['adapter'] = pathinfo($configArray['filePath'], PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
        $config = $factory->load($configArray);
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: $factory->load(['filePath' => 'config.ini']) — the adapter key is missing, and even though the file has an extension, inference does not apply to arrays.

Common situations: Copying a partial config array that omits the adapter; assuming extension-based inference works the same for array input as for strings.

Understand the failure class

Background: Config validation failed: what "invalid value for {key}" and settings-rejection errors mean across 19 open-source libraries — this error's family across 19 libraries.

Related errors

• You must provide 'filePath' option in factory config paramet
• You need to provide the extension in the file path
• Config must be array or Phalcon\Config\Config object
• To use 'array' adapter you have to specify the 'config' as a
• Configuration file {fileName} cannot be loaded

AI-assisted analysis of phalcon/cphalcon@b7419de9cd (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/55be0951ed0704b9. Report an issue: GitHub.