Happ: “Configuration is not valid” — vless, vmess and the rest

Re-importing a single configuration

Getting an intact copy of a one-server configuration string.

Go back to the original source

Take the string from where it was published rather than from a message you forwarded it through.

Copy the whole line

These strings are long and frequently wrap across several lines on screen, which makes hand-selection unreliable.

Watch the ending

Everything after a hash mark is only a display name, but a cut before it removes real data.

Import once more

If the app accepts it, the server appears in the list immediately.

What the placeholder means

The real message contains a placeholder that the app fills in — you will see vless, vmess, trojan, ss or another protocol name in place of it, depending on what the string started with. So the message identifies the format the app attempted, not a setting you got wrong.

That is actually useful information. If it names the protocol you expected, the string is the right kind and something inside it is damaged. If it names something you did not expect, you have pasted a different thing than you thought.

What corrupts these strings

A single configuration is one long line with encoded parts. Almost every failure here is mechanical:

it was cut short — long strings wrap on screen and hand-selection stops at the visual line break rather than the end;
it went through a chat — some messengers shorten long strings for display or attach formatting to them;
two strings were pasted together — configurations are often published as a block, and the app expects one at a time;
the ending was trimmed — the part after # is only the display name, but cutting near it usually takes real data with it.

A configuration is not a subscription

Worth separating, because it changes what you should ask your provider for.

A configuration is a snapshot of one server. If that server changes address or goes away, your entry stops working and nothing updates it.

A subscription is an address that the app queries. The provider can rotate servers behind it and your app keeps working.

If you are being handed individual configurations and finding they expire constantly, ask whether a subscription link is available instead — it is the same access delivered in a form that maintains itself.

If nothing you paste is accepted, compare the exact wording against the full list of messages — a different message means a different stage failed.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the message name a protocol I did not choose?

The app inserts whatever it detected from the beginning of the string. It is reporting what it tried to parse, not suggesting the protocol is wrong.

Is a single configuration the same thing as a subscription?

No. A configuration describes one server. A subscription is an address the app fetches a list from and keeps updated.

Can I repair the string by hand?

Not reliably. The parts are encoded, so a missing character cannot be reconstructed by eye — get the original again instead.