puppetlabs/puppet · error · ArgumentError

You can only save objects that respond to :name

Error message

You can only save objects that respond to :name

What it means

The YAML terminus's save() derives the storage path from the object's name, so it requires request.instance to respond to :name; anything else raises ArgumentError immediately, before any file I/O. This is a duck-type contract check: only name-addressed model objects (nodes, facts, reports) can be stored in the yaml indirection store.

Source

Thrown at lib/puppet/indirector/yaml.rb:22

require_relative '../../puppet/util/yaml'

# The base class for YAML indirection termini.
class Puppet::Indirector::Yaml < Puppet::Indirector::Terminus
  # Read a given name's file in and convert it from YAML.
  def find(request)
    file = path(request.key)
    return nil unless Puppet::FileSystem.exist?(file)

    begin
      load_file(file)
    rescue Puppet::Util::Yaml::YamlLoadError => detail
      raise Puppet::Error, _("Could not parse YAML data for %{indirection} %{request}: %{detail}") % { indirection: indirection.name, request: request.key, detail: detail }, detail.backtrace
    end
  end

  # Convert our object to YAML and store it to the disk.
  def save(request)
    raise ArgumentError, _("You can only save objects that respond to :name") unless request.instance.respond_to?(:name)

    file = path(request.key)

    basedir = File.dirname(file)

    # This is quite likely a bad idea, since we're not managing ownership or modes.
    Dir.mkdir(basedir) unless Puppet::FileSystem.exist?(basedir)

    begin
      Puppet::Util::Yaml.dump(request.instance, file)
    rescue TypeError => detail
      Puppet.err _("Could not save %{indirection} %{request}: %{detail}") % { indirection: name, request: request.key, detail: detail }
    end
  end

  # Return the path to a given node's file.
  def path(name, ext = '.yaml')
    if name =~ Puppet::Indirector::BadNameRegexp then

View on GitHub (pinned to e227c27540)

Solutions

1. Save proper model instances: build the object with Puppet::Node.new(name, ...) / Puppet::Node::Facts.new(name, values) and save that
2. For arbitrary data, use Puppet::Util::Yaml.dump(data, path) directly instead of the indirection
3. If wrapping a model, delegate name (def name; @target.name; end) so the contract holds
4. Check respond_to?(:name) at the call site for clearer failure context

Example fix

# before
Puppet::Node.indirection.save({ 'hostname' => 'web01' }, 'web01')
# => ArgumentError: You can only save objects that respond to :name

# after
node = Puppet::Node.new('web01', parameters: { 'hostname' => 'web01' })
Puppet::Node.indirection.save(node, 'web01')

unless request.instance.respond_to?(:name)
  raise ArgumentError, 'only name-bearing model objects can be saved; wrap raw data or use Puppet::Util::Yaml.dump'
end

def name_bearing?(obj)
  obj.respond_to?(:name)
end

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Puppet::Node.indirection.save (or another yaml-backed indirection) with a Hash, Array, String, Struct, or any object lacking a name method; passing a wrapper/decorator that forwards most calls but not name.

Common situations: Custom tooling that tries to persist arbitrary configuration hashes through the yaml terminus instead of using its own storage; refactors wrapping model objects; test code saving raw data structures for later inspection.

Related errors

• Could not find indirection '%{indirection}'
• Could not understand URL %{key}: %{detail}
• Could not parse YAML data for %{indirection} %{request}: %{d
• puppet.tasks/unparseable-metadata
• #{path}: #{detail.message}

AI-assisted analysis of puppetlabs/puppet@e227c27540 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/212774bc08207f34. Report an issue: GitHub.