agent couldn't parse great expectations yaml error failed validation suite load

TL;DR

A Great Expectations YAML load failure separates into YAML structure, then Great Expectations semantics: parse the file as plain YAML to find structural faults, then load it through the context to find semantic ones like unknown keys or wrong datasource types. Agents that rewrite the whole file to fix one key usually break the structure they could not see.

agent couldn't parse great expectations yaml error failed validation suite load

Use this when

• The check or run fails with this symptom: the agent errors loading the suite from its YAML configuration.
• You are working on an agent failing to load a Great Expectations validation suite from YAML and the failure repeats on the same data or configuration.
• You need the failing rows, rule, or stage isolated before changing thresholds or code.

Not for this skill when

• A data context discovery failure, where no configuration is found at all rather than a file that fails to load instead.
• The error text names a different tool, stage, or root cause. Match the verbatim error first and use that skill.

Steps

1. Parse the YAML file with a plain parser and fix any structural error at its reported line. Verify: the file parses as clean YAML
2. Load the configuration through the Great Expectations context and capture the first semantic error. Verify: the first semantic error is isolated
3. Compare the failing keys with the configuration reference for the installed Great Expectations version, since key names moved between major versions. Verify: keys are checked against the installed version
4. Fix the semantic issue in the smallest edit possible and reload, repeating per error rather than rewriting the file. Verify: the configuration loads after minimal edits
5. Run the suite from the loaded configuration on a small batch to prove the whole path works. Verify: the suite executes from the YAML configuration

Variant phrasings

agent could not parse great expectations yaml suite load

The verbatim GE-YAML phrasing.

great expectations yaml configuration keys version mismatch

The version phrasing for renamed configuration keys.

ge validation suite yaml load error fix line

The line-level phrasing for structural faults.

Compatibility: Great Expectations YAML configuration for suites, datasources, and checkpoints parsed by agents

Why it happens

Great Expectations configuration went through major restructuring between versions, so files written for one version name keys another version rejects. Layered on ordinary YAML fragility, that makes load failures common and makes wholesale rewrites by agents actively harmful.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Keep a known-good minimal suite YAML per Great Expectations version as a bisection reference.
• Validate configuration files in version control CI so a bad edit is caught before the agent's run.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_b57QLnx13ZQXF5uxdS6fmw