vectordotdev/vector · error

Source output has no name

Error message

Source output has no name

What it means

When a source declares named outputs, `wrap_source` iterates the output list to generate one validation sink per named output. If an output entry has no `name` field (or it is not a string), the wrapper cannot reference the output and throws this error.

Solutions

1. Add a `name` string field to every entry in the source example's `outputs` list.
2. Remove the `outputs` list if the source only has a default output.
3. Check the source's Rust `VectorSink:: Outputs`/schema definition matches the names used in the example YAML.

Example fix

// before
outputs:
  - type: log

// after
outputs:
  - name: processed
    type: log

const outputs = component.outputs ?? [];
for (const o of outputs) {
  if (typeof o.name !== 'string' || o.name.length === 0) {
    throw new Error('every named source output needs a string `name` field');
  }
}

function isNamedOutput(o) {
  return typeof o === 'object' && o !== null && typeof o.name === 'string' && o.name.length > 0;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A source's `outputs` array contains an entry lacking a `name` key, or with a non-string `name`, while the source otherwise qualifies as having named outputs (names other than `<component_id>`).

Common situations: A developer added a new named output to a source's example and forgot the `name` field; the outputs list was copied from a component that uses the legacy default output; YAML typo like `nane:` or `name: [list]`.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• has no component identifier
• Sink example has no sinks section
• Sink is missing
• Source example has no sources section
• Transform example has no transforms section

AI-assisted analysis of vectordotdev/vector@bdb87aeaa4 (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3f8b4dc9360fc880. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at vdev/src/commands/check/component_examples.rs:187

        mapping_value(&root, "sources")
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Source example has no sources section"))?,
        "source example sources",
    )?;
    let source_key = mapping_key(&sources, "source example")?;
    let mut sinks = Mapping::new();

    let outputs = component.get("outputs").and_then(Value::as_array);
    let has_named_outputs = outputs
        .and_then(|outputs| outputs.first())
        .and_then(|output| output.get("name"))
        .and_then(Value::as_str)
        .is_some_and(|name| name != "<component_id>");
    if has_named_outputs {
        for output in outputs.expect("Named outputs require an output list") {
            let name = output
                .get("name")
                .and_then(Value::as_str)
                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("Source output has no name"))?;
            sinks.insert(
                YamlValue::String(format!("_validate_sink_{name}")),
                blackhole(&format!("{source_key}.{name}")),
            );
        }
    } else {
        sinks.insert(
            YamlValue::String("_validate_sink".to_owned()),
            blackhole(&source_key),
        );
    }
    root.insert(
        YamlValue::String("sinks".to_owned()),
        YamlValue::Mapping(sinks),
    );
    Ok(YamlValue::Mapping(root))
}

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