windmill-labs/windmill · error

The elements of the vault_id field should be strings in the

Error message

The elements of the vault_id field should be strings in the format: `label@filename`

What it means

When `vault_id` is an array, every element must itself be a YAML string in `label@filename` format. If an element parses as a number, bool, list or hash instead of a string, parse_ansible_reqs throws this element-level error before validate_vault_id is reached.

Source

Thrown at backend/parsers/windmill-parser-yaml/src/lib.rs:561

                    ret.additional_inventories
                        .extend(parse_additional_inventories(value)?);
                }
                Yaml::String(key) if key == "vault_password" => {
                    let Yaml::String(filename) = value else {
                        return Err(anyhow!(
                            "Vault Password File expects a String containing the file name"
                        ));
                    };
                    ret.vault_password = Some(filename.to_string());
                }
                Yaml::String(key) if key == "vault_id" => {
                    let Yaml::Array(filenames) = value else {
                        return Err(anyhow!("Vault ID field expects an array of strings in the format: `label@filename`"));
                    };

                    for f in filenames {
                        let Yaml::String(filename) = f else {
                            return Err(anyhow!("The elements of the vault_id field should be strings in the format: `label@filename`"));
                        };
                        validate_vault_id(filename)?;
                        ret.vault_id.push(filename.to_string());
                    }
                }
                Yaml::String(key) if key == "options" => {
                    if let Yaml::Array(opts) = &value {
                        ret.options = parse_ansible_options(opts);
                    }
                }
                Yaml::String(key) if key == "git_repos" => {
                    let Yaml::Array(repos) = &value else {
                        return Err(anyhow!("git_repos field expects an array of repos"));
                    };

                    for r in repos {
                        ret.git_repos.push(
                            parse_git_repo(r)

View on GitHub (pinned to e474e8803c)

Solutions

1. Quote each element: `- "123@vault.txt"` so YAML parses it as a string.
2. Remove or flatten any nested mapping/list elements.
3. After the type is fixed, also satisfy validate_vault_id's character rules (letters, digits, `.`, `_`, `-`, `/`, `@`).

Example fix

# before
vault_id:
  - 123@file
# after
vault_id:
  - "123@file"

fn vault_id_elems_are_strings(doc: &Yaml) -> bool {
    match yaml_lookup(doc, "vault_id") {
        Some(Yaml::Array(items)) => items.iter().all(|i| matches!(i, Yaml::String(_))),
        _ => false,
    }
}

fn all_strings(v: &Yaml) -> bool {
    matches!(v, Yaml::Array(items) if items.iter().all(|i| matches!(i, Yaml::String(_))))
}

match parse_ansible_reqs(content) {
    Ok(r) => r,
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("elements of the vault_id field should be strings") => {
        eprintln!("Quote every vault_id list element");
        Err(e)
    }
    Err(e) => Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: A list item under `vault_id:` is a non-string scalar or nested structure, e.g. `vault_id: [123]` or an entry indented as a mapping.

Common situations: Unquoted numeric or boolean-looking labels (e.g. `vault_id: [123@file]`-like typos, `yes@file` parsed as bool), or entries accidentally indented as sub-mappings.

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

• Vault Password File expects a String containing the file nam
• Vault ID field expects an array of strings in the format: `l
• Failed to parse yaml: {}
• Invalid inventory definition
• Invalid vault_id `{value}`: expected `label@filename` using

AI-assisted analysis of windmill-labs/windmill@e474e8803c (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ce0bcf8ce228beb9. Report an issue: GitHub.