sipeed/picoclaw · error

invalid env assignment %q: expected KEY=value

Error message

invalid env assignment %q: expected KEY=value

What it means

parseEnvAssignments (helpers.go:213-232) requires every -e/--env value to contain '='; strings.Cut without a separator yields this error. The value side may be empty (KEY= is legal), but the separator itself is mandatory.

Source

Thrown at cmd/picoclaw/internal/mcp/helpers.go:222

func sortedServerNames(servers map[string]config.MCPServerConfig) []string {
	names := make([]string, 0, len(servers))
	for name := range servers {
		names = append(names, name)
	}
	sort.Strings(names)
	return names
}

func parseEnvAssignments(values []string) (map[string]string, error) {
	if len(values) == 0 {
		return nil, nil
	}

	env := make(map[string]string, len(values))
	for _, entry := range values {
		key, value, found := strings.Cut(entry, "=")
		if !found {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid env assignment %q: expected KEY=value", entry)
		}
		key = strings.TrimSpace(key)
		if key == "" {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid env assignment %q: key cannot be empty", entry)
		}
		env[key] = value
	}

	return env, nil
}

func parseHeaderAssignments(values []string) (map[string]string, error) {
	if len(values) == 0 {
		return nil, nil
	}

	headers := make(map[string]string, len(values))
	for _, entry := range values {

View on GitHub (pinned to 49183d7e8d)

Solutions

1. Pass explicit KEY=value form: -e API_KEY=secret
2. Expand the pair yourself: -e "API_KEY=$API_KEY"
3. For secrets prefer --env-file (the flag help recommends it) so values stay out of shell history

Example fix

# before
picoclaw mcp add s ./server -e API_KEY
# after
picoclaw mcp add s ./server -e "API_KEY=$API_KEY"

for pair in "${ENVS[@]}"; do
  case "$pair" in
    *=*) ;;
    *) echo "invalid env assignment '$pair': expected KEY=value" >&2; exit 2 ;;
  esac
done
picoclaw mcp add "$name" "$target" "${ENVS[@]/#/-e }"

When it happens

Trigger: `picoclaw mcp add s ./server -e API_KEY` (forgot =value); quoting that strips the pair, e.g. -e "$VAR" where VAR is unset so the argument becomes a bare word.

Common situations: Intending to forward a variable that holds its own value; muscle memory from `docker run -e VAR` which accepts bare names (this CLI does not).

Related errors

• invalid env assignment %q: key cannot be empty
• unsupported --type %q (only 'openai-compatible' is supported
• api base is required
• either --every or --cron must be specified
• invalid --host value: %w

AI-assisted analysis of sipeed/picoclaw@49183d7e8d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8a50559c33b47f38. Report an issue: GitHub.