# Heartbeat reference documentation has extra syntax

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925>\
**Category:** Beats\
**Tags:** heartbeat\
**Created:** [March 21, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925 "2024-03-21T17:36:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ryan\_Downey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ryan_downey/32/35987_2.png) [@Ryan\_Downey](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ryan_Downey)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925/1 "2024-03-21T17:36:21Z")

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**Hearbeat version:**  
8.12.2  
**Original install method (e.g. download page, yum, from source, etc.):**  
MSI  
**Describe the bug:**  
The Heartbeat reference file, heartbeat.reference.yml, and the documentation site has an extra dash, -, in the check.response section next to # expression: 'myField == "expectedValue"'. This causes a fairly non-descriptive error to be thrown, Exiting: could not create monitor: could not parse cfg for datastream error unpacking monitor plugin config: string value is not set accessing 'heartbeat.monitors.4.type' .  
**Steps to reproduce:**

1. Copy and past the entire check.response section from the heartbeat.reference.yml to the heartbeat.yml.
2. .\heartbeat.exe run -e

**Expected behavior:**  
For Heartbeat to start.  
**Provide logs and/or server output (if relevant):**  
Exiting: could not create monitor: could not parse cfg for datastream error unpacking monitor plugin config: string value is not set accessing 'heartbeat.monitors.4.type'"  
**Any additional context:**  
Update the documentation to remove the extra dash - on line 229: expression: 'myField == "expectedValue"'

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ryan\_Downey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/ryan_downey/32/35987_2.png) [@Ryan\_Downey](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Ryan_Downey)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925/2 "2024-03-21T17:41:08Z")

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Solved: Remove the dash - on line 229 of the documentation.

Also, if you hit a similar error to, Exiting: could not create monitor: could not parse cfg for datastream error unpacking monitor plugin config: string value is not set accessing 'heartbeat.monitors.4.type', look for a syntax error somewhere in the yaml file.

The actual error number may be different than above as I've seen it show up as heartbeat.monitors.1.type, heartbeat.monitors.2.type or heartbeat.monitors.3.type and I'm assuming it could be virtually any number.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![emilioalvap](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/emilioalvap/32/99310_2.png) [@emilioalvap](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/emilioalvap)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 11:46am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925/3 "2024-04-03T11:46:31Z")

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Hi @Ryan_Downey,

Thanks for the heads up! The issue has been addressed [here](https://github.com/elastic/beats/pull/38584). I apologize for any inconvenience it might have caused.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/heartbeat-reference-documentation-has-extra-syntax/355925/4 "2024-05-01T13:46:46Z")

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