usebruno/bruno · error · BrunoError

Invalid variable at index

Error message

Invalid variable at index ${index}: expected an object

What it means

Thrown inside the env.variables.forEach loop when a single variable entry is not an object. The index in the message pinpoints the offending slot in the variables array.

Solutions

Inspect the variables array at the reported index and replace the primitive/null with a full variable object.
Remove empty slots if the variable is not needed.
Re-export the environment from Bruno rather than hand-editing.

Example fix

// before
"variables": [ "BASE_URL", { "name": "KEY", "value": "v" } ]
// after
"variables": [
  { "name": "BASE_URL", "value": "https://api", "enabled": true },
  { "name": "KEY", "value": "v", "enabled": true }
]

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

env.variables.forEach((v, i) => {
  if (!(v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v))) {
    throw new Error(`Variable at index ${i} is not an object`);
  }
});

Type guard

function isVariableEntry(v) {
  return v !== null && typeof v === 'object' && !Array.isArray(v);
}

Try / catch

try {
  validateBrunoEnvironment(env);
} catch (err) {
  const m = err.message.match(/Invalid variable at index (\d+): expected an object/);
  if (m) env.variables = env.variables.filter(isVariableEntry);
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Filter out null/primitive slots before import.
Re-export environments instead of hand-editing array contents.
Validate each variable entry shape before import.

When it happens

Trigger: variables array contains a null, a string, a number, or any primitive at the reported index, e.g. [null, {"name":"X"}] fails at index 0; ["BASE_URL"] fails at index 0.

Common situations: Trailing commas producing null holes, copying a variable name as a bare string instead of an object, or partial exports that emit null for deleted variables.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of usebruno/bruno@9bdd81c7bd (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2cc9145d2182575a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/bruno-app/src/utils/importers/bruno-environment.js:16

import { BrunoError } from 'utils/common/error';
import { buildEnvVariable, dedupeImportedSecrets } from 'utils/environments';

const validateBrunoEnvironment = (env) => {
  if (!env || typeof env !== 'object') {
    throw new BrunoError('Invalid environment: expected an object');
  }

  if (!Array.isArray(env.variables)) {
    throw new BrunoError('Invalid environment: missing or invalid variables array');
  }

  // Validate each variable
  env.variables.forEach((variable, index) => {
    if (!variable || typeof variable !== 'object') {
      throw new BrunoError(`Invalid variable at index ${index}: expected an object`);
    }
    if (!variable.name || typeof variable.name !== 'string') {
      throw new BrunoError(`Invalid variable at index ${index}: missing or invalid name`);
    }
  });

  const variables = env.variables.map((envVariable) => buildEnvVariable({ envVariable, withUuid: true }));

  return {
    name: env.name || 'Imported Environment',
    variables: dedupeImportedSecrets(variables),
    color: env.color
  };
};

const processEnvironmentData = (data, fileName) => {
  try {
    // Handle new single-file format with environments array

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