ssssssss-team/spider-flow · error · ExpressionError

Expected ':', but got

Error message

Expected ':', but got '<token text>'

What it means

Parser syntax error raised in parseMapLiteral: after parsing a key expression in a {key: value} map literal, stream.expect(':') failed because the next token is not a colon. The input at fault is the map-literal source text — e.g. {a b} or {a = 1} — missing the required ':' between key and value. Since parseMapLiteral is reached from parseAccessOrCallOrLiteral, any expression starting with '{' takes this path.

Solutions

1. Add the missing ':' between each key and value in the map literal, e.g. {'name': 'x'}.
2. Check the expression for a stray comma or omitted value that shifted token alignment.
3. Validate the whole expression in an editor/test panel before saving the flow.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at spider-flow-core/src/main/java/org/spiderflow/core/expression/parsing/Parser.java:173 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of ssssssss-team/spider-flow@c799cca99c (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa2c7262011c2fc3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at spider-flow-core/src/main/java/org/spiderflow/core/expression/parsing/Parser.java:173

		} else {
			ExpressionError.error("Expected a variable, field, map, array, function or method call, or literal.", stream);
			return null; // not reached
		}
	}

	private static Expression parseMapLiteral (TokenStream stream) {
		Span openCurly = stream.expect(TokenType.LeftCurly).getSpan();

		List<Token> keys = new ArrayList<>();
		List<Expression> values = new ArrayList<>();
		while (stream.hasMore() && !stream.match("}", false)) {
			if(stream.match(TokenType.StringLiteral, false)){
				keys.add(stream.expect(TokenType.StringLiteral));
			}else{
				keys.add(stream.expect(TokenType.Identifier));
			}
			
			stream.expect(":");
			values.add(parseExpression(stream));
			if (!stream.match("}", false)) stream.expect(TokenType.Comma);
		}
		Span closeCurly = stream.expect("}").getSpan();
		return new MapLiteral(new Span(openCurly, closeCurly), keys, values);
	}

	private static Expression parseListLiteral (TokenStream stream) {
		Span openBracket = stream.expect(TokenType.LeftBracket).getSpan();

		List<Expression> values = new ArrayList<>();
		while (stream.hasMore() && !stream.match(TokenType.RightBracket, false)) {
			values.add(parseExpression(stream));
			if (!stream.match(TokenType.RightBracket, false)) stream.expect(TokenType.Comma);
		}

		Span closeBracket = stream.expect(TokenType.RightBracket).getSpan();
		return new ListLiteral(new Span(openBracket, closeBracket), values);

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