What causes "invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': last line must be 'authors: [ ...]' (no trailing blank lines)." in vectordotdev/vector?

Ensure the very last line of the file is `authors: your_github_handle`.

invalid fragment contents for

Error message

invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': last line must be 'authors: <name> [<name> ...]' (no trailing blank lines).

What it means

The fragment's last line must be an `authors: <name> [<name> ...]` line, read verbatim via `lines().last()` to match generate_cue.rs. Trailing blank lines or a missing authors line break the release tooling's attribution parsing.

Solutions

Ensure the very last line of the file is `authors: your_github_handle`.
Remove any blank lines after the authors line.
Re-run the scaffolder if the fragment structure is badly mangled.

Example fix

// before
Some change.

// after
Some change.
authors: jdoe

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

let content = std::fs::read_to_string(path)?;
let last = content.lines().last().unwrap_or("");
assert!(last.starts_with("authors: ") && !last.trim_end().is_empty(), "last line must be 'authors: <names>'");

Prevention

Keep `authors: handle` as the literal final line of every fragment.
Disable 'trim trailing newlines' editor settings that can mangle the ending, or verify the ending before committing.
Never append content below the authors line.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `vdev check changelog-fragments` when the fragment body is the last line (no `authors:` line at all), the authors line is followed by blank lines, or `authors:` lacks the required `authors: ` prefix.

Common situations: Editor auto-trimming or adding a final newline plus blank line; hand-editing the scaffold and deleting the authors line; pasting content after the authors line.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of vectordotdev/vector@bdb87aeaa4 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9642da240604b967. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at vdev/src/commands/check/changelog_fragments.rs:201

    };
    if parts[2] != "md" {
        bail!("invalid fragment filename '{filename}': extension must be markdown (.md).");
    }
    Ok(known)
}

fn validate_contents(
    path: &std::path::Path,
    filename: &str,
    fragment_type: &FragmentType,
) -> Result<()> {
    let content = std::fs::read_to_string(path)?;
    // Match generate_cue.rs, which reads `lines().last()` verbatim: the authors
    // line must be the last line, no trailing blank lines allowed.
    let last_line = content.lines().last().unwrap_or("");

    let Some(names) = last_line.strip_prefix("authors: ") else {
        bail!(
            "invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': last line must be 'authors: <name> [<name> ...]' (no trailing blank lines)."
        );
    };
    let names = names.trim();
    if names.is_empty() {
        bail!("invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': authors line has no names.");
    }
    if names.contains('@') {
        bail!(
            "invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': author names should not be prefixed with '@'."
        );
    }
    if names.contains(',') {
        bail!(
            "invalid fragment contents for '{filename}': authors should be space delimited, not comma delimited."
        );
    }
    if names.split_whitespace().any(|n| n == TODO_HANDLE) {

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