(<unknown>): could not find expected ':' while scanning a simple key at line 3 column 1 (Psych::SyntaxError)

Question

I am trying to run a bundle install on a rails project pulled from git. When I run the bundle install I get the following error:

    /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:370:in     `parse': (<unknown>): could not find expected ':' while scanning a simple key at     line 3 column 1 (Psych::SyntaxError)
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:370:in `parse_stream'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:318:in `parse'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:245:in `load'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/config_file.rb:333:in `load_file'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/config_file.rb:198:in `initialize'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:74:in `new'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:74:in `do_configuration'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:39:in `run'
    from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/bin/gem:21:in `<main>'

This is my Gemfile:

source 'https://rubygems.org'


# Bundle edge Rails instead: gem 'rails', github: 'rails/rails'
gem 'rails', '4.2.3'
# Use sqlite3 as the database for Active Record
gem 'sqlite3'

#for Authentification
gem 'devise'

#for image management
gem 'paperclip', :git => 'git://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip.git'
gem 'aws-sdk-v1'
gem 'aws-s3'

group :development do
    gem 'better_errors'
end

group :development, :test do
    gem 'dotenv-rails'
end
# Use SCSS for stylesheets
gem 'sass-rails', '~> 5.0'
# Use Uglifier as compressor for JavaScript assets
gem 'uglifier', '>= 1.3.0'
# Use CoffeeScript for .coffee assets and views
gem 'coffee-rails', '~> 4.1.0'
# See https://github.com/rails/execjs#readme for more supported runtimes
# gem 'therubyracer', platforms: :ruby

# Use jquery as the JavaScript library
gem 'jquery-rails'
# Turbolinks makes following links in your web application faster. Read more:     https://github.com/rails/turbolinks
gem 'turbolinks'
# Build JSON APIs with ease. Read more: https://github.com/rails/jbuilder
gem 'jbuilder', '~> 2.0'
# bundle exec rake doc:rails generates the API under doc/api.
gem 'sdoc', '~> 0.4.0', group: :doc

# Use ActiveModel has_secure_password
# gem 'bcrypt', '~> 3.1.7'

# Use Unicorn as the app server
# gem 'unicorn'

# Use Capistrano for deployment
# gem 'capistrano-rails', group: :development

group :development, :test do
  # Call 'byebug' anywhere in the code to stop execution and get a debugger     console
  gem 'byebug'

  # Access an IRB console on exception pages or by using <%= console %> in views
  gem 'web-console', '~> 2.0'

  # Spring speeds up development by keeping your application running in the      background. Read more: https://github.com/rails/spring
  gem 'spring'
end

After some digging I thought it might be an issue with rvm as I tried pulling an old project off git and was still unable to run the bundle install. I also tried copying a project locally and running the install and starting a new project all without success.

After reinstalling rvm I ran rvm use ruby --install --defaultand got the following error (similar to above)

/Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:370:in `parse': (<unknown>): could not find expected ':' while scanning a simple key at line 3 column 1 (Psych::SyntaxError)
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:370:in `parse_stream'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:318:in `parse'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/psych.rb:245:in `load'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/config_file.rb:333:in `load_file'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/config_file.rb:198:in `initialize'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:74:in `new'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:74:in `do_configuration'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rubygems/gem_runner.rb:39:in `run'
from /Users/jordandeutsch/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.3/bin/gem:25:in `<main>'

Essentially I cannot begin a new rails project on the computer. Any insight would be appreciated.

Solution 1

This error usually comes out if you have syntax errors in the .yml files. Have a look if you can find any mistake in there.

You can also try and remove the .gemrc file from the home directory. It could be that the error is in there.

Solution 2

In case you still are looking for answers (after patching up your database.yml several times), try to check other yml files that are loaded upon initialization of the application, like secrets.yml, sidekiq.yml, webpacker.yml or so.

In my case, it was throwing error like:

/home/abhishek/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.7/gems/railties-4.2.10/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb:115:in `rescue in database_configuration': YAML syntax error occurred while parsing /home/abhishek/Workspace/clearfunds/clearfunds-web/config/database.yml. Please note that YAML must be consistently indented using spaces. Tabs are not allowed. Error: (<unknown>): could not find expected ':' while scanning a simple key at line 19 column 7 (RuntimeError)

But database.yml was intact. The problem was in secrets.yml. Had used tab indentation in a couple of places.

Comments

[Baldráni]

Nice one I had a similar problem running vagrant up after modificating my Homestead.yml (Laravel project)

[Nick N]

I had the same issue but with mongoid. I deleted the mongoid.yml and re-ran the following: rails g mongoid:config then restarted the app and was fine.

[Radmation]

Thank you! I was missing a space between a hyphen and a database name.