Troubleshooting

This guide covers common errors you might encounter when importing custom plans into OwnLift, along with their solutions.

Parse Errors

"Failed to parse YAML file"

Cause: The YAML syntax is invalid. YAML is sensitive to indentation and formatting.

Common issues:

  • Inconsistent indentation (mixing tabs and spaces)
  • Missing colons after field names
  • Special characters in strings that need quoting

Solution:

  1. Use spaces (not tabs) for indentation — 2 spaces per level is standard
  2. Ensure all field names end with a colon
  3. Wrap strings containing special characters (:, #, -) in quotes
  4. Use a YAML validator to check syntax: yamllint.com

Version Errors

"Plan file missing required 'plan_version' as a number"

Cause: The plan_version field is missing or not a number.

Solution: Add plan_version: 1 as the first line of your file:

valid-plan.yaml 
plan_version: 1
meta:
  title: My Plan
cycle:
  days:
    - order: 0
      exercises:
        - name: Push-ups
          modality: strength
          target_sets: 3
          target_reps: 10

"Plan version X not supported. Expected 1."

Cause: The plan uses a version number that OwnLift doesn't recognize.

Solution: Change plan_version to 1. This is currently the only supported version.

Metadata Errors

"Plan meta.title is required"

Cause: Every plan needs a title.

Solution: Add a title under the meta section:

meta:
  title: My Workout Plan

"Plan meta.title must be 80 characters or fewer"

Cause: The plan title is too long.

Solution: Shorten your title to 80 characters or less. Use the description field for additional details.

Day Errors

"Plan must include at least one day"

Cause: The cycle.days array is empty or missing.

Solution: Add at least one day with at least one exercise:

cycle:
  days:
    - order: 0
      exercises:
        - name: Exercise Name
          modality: strength

"Day X missing numeric 'order'"

Cause: The order field is missing or not a number.

Solution: Add an order field to each day. Order starts at 0:

days:
  - order: 0
    focus: Day 1
  - order: 1
    focus: Day 2

"Day X has invalid order; must be >= 0"

Cause: The order value is negative.

Solution: Use non-negative integers (0, 1, 2, ...).

"Duplicate day order detected: X"

Cause: Two or more days have the same order value.

Solution: Ensure each day has a unique order number.

"Day X must include at least one exercise"

Cause: A day's exercises array is empty or missing.

Solution: Add at least one exercise to each day.

Exercise Errors

"Exercise 'X' has unsupported modality 'Y'"

Cause: The modality isn't one of the four supported types.

Solution: Use one of: strength, countdown, stopwatch, or interval. 

exercises:
  - name: Plank
    modality: countdown  # Valid values: strength, countdown, stopwatch, interval
    target_duration_sec: 60

"Exercise 'X' duration must be positive"

Cause: target_duration_sec is zero or negative.

Solution: Use a positive number for duration (in seconds):

- name: Plank
  modality: countdown
  target_duration_sec: 60  # Must be > 0

"Exercise 'X' distance must be positive"

Cause: target_distance_meters is zero or negative.

Solution: Use a positive number for distance (in meters).

Link Errors

Link field is ignored

Cause: The URL doesn't use HTTPS protocol.

Solution: Only HTTPS URLs are accepted for security. Change http:// to https://: 

- name: Squat
  modality: strength
  link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example  # Must be https://

Validation Checklist

Before importing, verify your plan meets these requirements:

  • plan_version — Must be 1
  • meta.title — Required, max 80 characters
  • cycle.days — At least one day
  • day.order — Unique non-negative integer for each day
  • day.exercises — At least one exercise per day
  • exercise.name — Required for each exercise
  • exercise.modality — One of: strength, countdown, stopwatch, interval
  • Durations/distances — Must be positive numbers
  • Links — Must use HTTPS

Still Having Issues?

If you're still encountering problems:

  1. Compare your file against the Example Plans
  2. Validate your YAML syntax at yamllint.com
  3. Check the PWF specification for the complete format reference
  4. Contact support at support@ownlift.app