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How to find and fix broken config or JSON issues
Config breakage usually falls into a few predictable classes. This page helps you classify the problem before you thrash around.
Troubleshooting ruleParse problems, shape problems, clobber problems, and behavior problems are different classes and should not be debugged the same way.
Failure classes
The main kinds of config failure
Parse errorThe config is not valid JSON, so higher-level reasoning is premature.
Wrong field shapeThe config parses, but the value type or object shape is not accepted.
Sibling clobberThe intended field changed, but nearby working settings were overwritten too.
Behavior mismatchThe config is valid, but the runtime behavior still does not match the intention.
Examples
How to debug each class
Parse errorFix the syntax first, then re-run validation.
Wrong shapeLook up the schema path and patch the field with the expected type.
Sibling clobberRestore the nearby config and re-apply the narrow intended edit only.
Behavior mismatchCheck whether the runtime actually reloaded and whether your verification step matches the intended change.
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