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EPUBCheck · Resources and references

EPUBCheck RSC-005: schema error in a file

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EPUBCheck RSC-005 is an error message: “Error while parsing file: ….” A file does not follow the schema EPUB requires for it. An element, attribute or value is not allowed where it is, or something required is missing; the text after "Error while parsing file:" says which. It is the most common EPUBCheck error, and one structural mistake can cause several messages.

The official message

Error while parsing file: %1$s

Default severity
Error. The EPUB breaks a rule of the specification and is invalid. Stores and Send to Kindle may reject it, and EPUBCheck exits with status 1.
EPUBCheck version
5.4.0

%1$s, %2$s… are filled in with the file, value or element EPUBCheck found.

Typical causes

  • "element X not allowed here" or "attribute X not allowed here": elements nested where the schema forbids them (a div inside a p), or attributes that HTML or EPUB do not define, often copied from web pages or word processors.
  • "Duplicate ID": the same id value used twice in one document, often from copied footnotes or headings.
  • Missing required metadata, such as the dcterms:modified date of an EPUB 3 package document, or a missing required element such as title in the XHTML head.
  • "value of attribute X is invalid": a value of the wrong type, such as a date in the wrong format or an id that starts with a digit.

How to fix it

  1. Read the text after the colon: EPUBCheck reports the file, the line and column, and the parser's own description of the problem.
  2. Fix the element or attribute it names: move or remove the element, delete the unknown attribute, or make the duplicate id unique and update the links that pointed to it.
  3. In package documents, add the missing metadata, for example <meta property="dcterms:modified">2026-11-03T00:00:00Z</meta> (exactly one, in that format).
  4. Fix the first errors first and validate again: one structural error can cause several later ones.

When it's not this

If the file is not even well-formed XML (an unescaped & or an unclosed tag), EPUBCheck reports the fatal RSC-016 instead.

Terms used here

Other RSC messages

  • RSC-004 File "…" is encrypted, its content will not be checked.
  • RSC-006 Remote resource reference is not allowed in this context; resource "…" must be located in the EPUB container.
  • RSC-006b Resource "…" is located outside the EPUB Container; please check the resource is retrieved in scripted content.
  • RSC-003 No rootfile tag with media type "application/oebps-package+xml" was found in the container.
  • RSC-007 Referenced resource "…" could not be found in the EPUB.
  • RSC-002 Required META-INF/container.xml resource could not be found.

Sources

Message text and severity from EPUBCheck 5.4.0 (W3C, BSD-3-Clause). Explanation by EpubCC.

FAQ

What does EPUBCheck RSC-005 mean?

EPUBCheck RSC-005 is an error message: “Error while parsing file: ….” A file does not follow the schema EPUB requires for it. An element, attribute or value is not allowed where it is, or something required is missing; the text after "Error while parsing file:" says which. It is the most common EPUBCheck error, and one structural mistake can cause several messages.

Is RSC-005 an error?

RSC-005 is reported as error by default. The EPUB breaks a rule of the specification and is invalid. Stores and Send to Kindle may reject it, and EPUBCheck exits with status 1.