zylon-ai/private-gpt · error · ValueError

Unsupported web search provider: {self._settings.web_search.

Error message

Unsupported web search provider: {self._settings.web_search.provider}

What it means

ValueError raised in WebSearchService._initialize_providers when the configured provider string matches neither 'brave' nor 'mock'. In normal operation the pydantic Literal['brave','mock'] on WebSearchSettings.provider rejects other values at config load, so this branch fires when settings are constructed/bypassed without validation (programmatic Settings mutation, hand-built Settings objects in tests, or a version skew between config schema and code).

Source

Thrown at private_gpt/components/web/web_search/web_search_service.py:101

    def _initialize_providers(self) -> None:
        if self._settings.web_search.provider == "brave":
            from private_gpt.components.web.web_search.providers.brave import (
                BraveSearchProvider,
            )

            self._provider = BraveSearchProvider(self._settings)
        elif self._settings.web_search.provider == "mock":
            from private_gpt.components.web.web_search.providers.mock import (
                MockSearchProvider,
            )

            self._provider = MockSearchProvider()
        else:
            logger.error(
                f"Unsupported web search provider: {self._settings.web_search.provider}"
            )
            raise ValueError(
                f"Unsupported web search provider: {self._settings.web_search.provider}"
            )

        if self._settings.web_search.cached:
            from private_gpt.components.web.web_search.providers.cached import (
                CachedProvider,
            )

            self._provider = CachedProvider(self._provider)

    def _initialize_processor(self) -> None:
        if self._settings.web_search.processor == "simple_text":
            from private_gpt.components.web.web_search.processors.simple_text import (
                SimpleTextProcessor,
            )

            self._processor = SimpleTextProcessor(self._settings)

View on GitHub (pinned to 4a030776a3)

Solutions

Set web_search.provider to 'brave' (or 'mock' for tests) — the only supported values in this build.
If you need a custom provider, register it in both the WebSearchSettings Literal and _initialize_providers, then rebuild.
Construct Settings through the normal loader so pydantic validation catches bad names at startup, not at first search.

Example fix

# settings.yaml
web_search:
  provider: brave   # was e.g. 'serper' (unsupported in this build)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

SUPPORTED_PROVIDERS = {'brave', 'mock'}
if settings.web_search.provider not in SUPPORTED_PROVIDERS:
    raise ValueError(
        f'provider must be one of {sorted(SUPPORTED_PROVIDERS)}, '
        f'got {settings.web_search.provider!r}'
    )

Type guard

from typing import Literal

WebSearchProviderName = Literal['brave', 'mock']

def is_supported_provider(name: str) -> bool:
    return name in ('brave', 'mock')

Try / catch

try:
    svc = WebSearchService(settings, scraper, llm, summary_builder)
except ValueError as e:
    if 'Unsupported web search provider' in str(e):
        settings.web_search.provider = 'brave'  # safe default
        svc = WebSearchService(settings, scraper, llm, summary_builder)
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Always build Settings via the pydantic loader so Literal validation runs.
Extend the Literal when adding providers, keep the branch list in sync.
Fail config validation at boot, not at first search.

When it happens

Trigger: Settings object built or mutated in code (settings.web_search.provider = 'serper') and passed to a manually constructed WebSearchService; older config files from versions where other provider names existed; test fixtures instantiating WebSearchSettings with validate_assignment off.

Common situations: Extending private-gpt with a custom search provider without patching the Literal and the branch; YAML from an older/newer release carrying a provider name this build does not know.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of zylon-ai/private-gpt@4a030776a3 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea85700975621c46. Report an issue: GitHub.