puppetlabs/puppet · error · ArgumentError

Could not find indirection '%{indirection}'

Error message

Could not find indirection '%{indirection}'

What it means

Puppet::Indirector::Request#model resolves the request's indirection_name through the global indirection registry (Puppet::Indirector::Indirection.instance). If no indirection was ever registered under that name, ArgumentError is raised. Registration happens when the model class calls e.g. extend Puppet::Indirector (indirects :catalog), so a typo'd name, or referencing an indirection whose defining file was never required, produces this error.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/indirector/request.rb:104

        @key = key
      end
    end

    @key = @instance.name if !@key and @instance
  end

  # Look up the indirection based on the name provided.
  def indirection
    Puppet::Indirector::Indirection.instance(indirection_name)
  end

  def indirection_name=(name)
    @indirection_name = name.to_sym
  end

  def model
    ind = indirection
    raise ArgumentError, _("Could not find indirection '%{indirection}'") % { indirection: indirection_name } unless ind

    ind.model
  end

  # Are we trying to interact with multiple resources, or just one?
  def plural?
    method == :search
  end

  def initialize_from_hash(hash)
    @indirection_name = hash['indirection_name'].to_sym
    @method = hash['method'].to_sym
    @key = hash['key']
    @instance = hash['instance']
    @options = hash['options']
  end

  def to_data_hash

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. List registered indirections to verify the spelling: check each model class (Puppet::Node.indirects :node, Puppet::Resource::Catalog.indirects :catalog)
2. Require the model file explicitly before building the request: require 'puppet/node' etc.
3. Use the model's own indirection API instead of hand-built requests: Puppet::Node.indirection.find(key)
4. Inspect the request hash/serialization you are loading and correct the indirection_name value

Example fix

# before
req = Puppet::Indirection::Request.new(:nodes, :find, 'web01', nil)
req.model  # ArgumentError: Could not find indirection 'nodes'

# after
req = Puppet::Indirection::Request.new(:node, :find, 'web01', nil)
req.model  # => Puppet::Node

unless Puppet::Indirector::Indirection.instance(indirection_name.to_sym)
  raise ArgumentError, "indirection '#{indirection_name}' is not registered; require its model first"
end

def registered_indirection?(name)
  !Puppet::Indirector::Indirection.instance(name.to_sym).nil?
end

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing Puppet::Indirector::Request.new(:nonexistent, :find, key, ...) in code or tests; deserializing a request from YAML with an indirection_name whose model class is not loaded; misspelling an indirection in custom faces or report tools (e.g., :nodes instead of :node).

Common situations: Custom tooling or RSpec fixtures that build Request objects directly with guessed names; code paths that lazy-load models in a different order than production; renames of indirections across Puppet versions.

Related errors

• Could not understand URL %{key}: %{detail}
• You can only save objects that respond to :name
• puppet.tasks/unparseable-metadata
• Listing remote file buckets is not allowed
• Invalid terminus name %{terminus_class}

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8f82da7ae9f963bd. Report an issue: GitHub.