Warning: read_debug_yaml(): missing valid end flag in debug.yaml keeps appearing, unable to disable it

[FaaSioFlexService]

Hello everyone,

I keep seeing this warning continuously in my APISIX logs, and I don’t know how to stop it. In theory, it shouldn’t appear because I have disabled the related hooks in my configuration:

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[warn] 42#42: *4558 [lua] debug.lua:124: read_debug_yaml(): missing valid end flag in file /usr/local/apisix/conf/debug.yaml, context: ngx.timer
My config.yaml (APISIX main config) looks like this:

apisix:
  log_level: debug
  base_url: "http://apisix:9180/apisix/admin"
  node_listen: 
    - 0.0.0.0:9080 
  ssl:
    enable: true
    listen:
      - ip: "0.0.0.0"
        port: 9443
        ssl: true
    ssl_protocols: TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3
    ssl_ciphers: "ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384"
    ssl_session_tickets: false
    certs:
      - cert: /usr/local/apisix/certs/faasioflex.pem
        key: /usr/local/apisix/certs/faasioflex-key.pem
        sni: ["localhost", "www.faasioflex.com"]
    ssl_trusted_combined_path: /usr/local/apisix/certs/rootCA.pem
    default_cert:
      cert: /usr/local/apisix/certs/faasioflex.pem
      key: /usr/local/apisix/certs/faasioflex-key.pem

# ... rest of config (deployment, etcd, plugins, etc.) unchanged ...

My debug.yaml is:

hook_conf:
  enable: false
  name: hook_phase
  log_level: info
  is_print_input_args: true
  is_print_return_value: true
hook_phase:
  apisix:
    - http_access_phase
    - http_header_filter_phase
    - http_body_filter_phase
    - http_log_phase

I also run APISIX inside Docker with this setup:

Dockerfile based on apache/apisix:latest

Copy configs and certs into /usr/local/apisix/conf/ and /usr/local/apisix/certs/

Entrypoint script starts APISIX with apisix start -c /usr/local/apisix/conf/config.yaml -v

I have tried:

Disabling hooks in debug.yaml

Removing or renaming debug.yaml (though sometimes it reappears)

Checking file permissions and formats (no BOM, proper YAML formatting)

Restarting APISIX container multiple times

But the warning still repeats constantly.

Could anyone help me understand:

What causes this warning exactly?

Why does APISIX keep reading this debug.yaml file if hooks are disabled?

How can I properly stop APISIX from printing this warning?

Is there a way to disable the debug hooks or the Lua code that reads this file without editing core APISIX source?

Any known bugs or issues with recent APISIX versions related to this?

Thank you very much in advance!

[dosubot[bot]]

The warning appears because APISIX expects a #END marker at the end of debug.yaml. Even if hooks are disabled, APISIX reads and checks this file every second in every worker, and the warning is triggered if #END is missing, regardless of your config settings or whether hooks are enabled or not. This behavior is hardcoded and cannot be disabled via configuration or environment variables (docs, source).

To stop the warning, either (a) add #END as the last line of your debug.yaml, or (b) remove or rename the file if you don't need debug features (though some deployments may recreate it). There are no known bugs or recent changes that address this warning or allow disabling the periodic read without modifying APISIX source or startup scripts. Editing config.yaml or setting hook_conf.enable: false will not stop the warning if the file exists and lacks #END (default config). If you need help with Docker image or entrypoint tweaks to ensure the file is correct, let me know!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[FaaSioFlexService]

I added the tag at the end of the debug file and the error stopped appearing. It doesn't really make sense, but well:

hook_conf:
  enable: false
  name: hook_phase
  log_level: info
  is_print_input_args: true
  is_print_return_value: true
hook_phase:
  apisix:
    - http_access_phase
    - http_header_filter_phase
    - http_body_filter_phase
    - http_log_phase
#END

I think it's something that slows down the system. But this triggered another issue with ngx:

2025/07/11 05:17:30 [info] 50#50: *74 [lua] config_etcd.lua:666: sync_data(): waitdir key: /apisix/plugin_configs prev_index: 8055, context: ngx.timer
2025/07/11 05:17:30 [info] 50#50: *74 [lua] config_etcd.lua:667: sync_data(): res: null, err: timeout, context: ngx.timer

Note: In the latest version it requires debug.yaml. If the file is missing, it throws an error. my image in Dockerfile:
FROM apache/apisix:latest