AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'name'

Python · updated 2026-11-04

Raised when code reads an attribute on a plain dict. Parsed JSON (response.json(), json.loads), many database drivers' row dicts and YAML config all give dicts, which take keys in brackets, not attributes. It also appears when a function that used to return an object starts returning a dict.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/app/billing/sync.py", line 33, in sync_customer
    email = customer.email
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'email'

Quick fix

Use key access: customer['email'] when the key must exist, customer.get('email') when it may be missing. If the code is written around attributes, convert the dict once where it comes in: a Pydantic model (Customer.model_validate(data)), a dataclass, or types.SimpleNamespace(**data).

1. Check what the variable is (type(x)) and where it came from: JSON, a DB row, config.
2. Replace x.field with x['field'] (or x.get('field') if it can be missing).
3. Or convert once at the edge into a model with attributes and keep the rest of the code as is.
4. Check for a library upgrade that changed a return type from an object to a dict (or the reverse).
5. If the attribute is a dict method name (items, keys, get), you're fine; this error means the name isn't one of those.

from pydantic import BaseModel

class Customer(BaseModel):
    id: str
    email: str
    name: str | None = None

data = response.json()                # a dict
email = data["email"]                 # key access
nickname = data.get("name")           # may be missing

customer = Customer.model_validate(data)   # or convert once and use attributes
print(customer.email)

Why it happens

Other fixes

• For nested JSON, a Pydantic model also validates types and gives a clear error when a field is missing, instead of a KeyError deep in the code.
• The opposite error, 'X' object is not subscriptable, means code used x['field'] on an object that needs x.field.

Same error, other wording

• AttributeError: 'dict' object has no attribute 'id'
• AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'get'
• AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'get'

Related errors

• KeyError: 'email'
• AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'x'
• TypeError: unhashable type: 'list'

More in Undefined, None and type errors

• TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'x')Node.js
• TypeError: Cannot destructure property 'id' of 'undefined' as it is undefined.Node.js
• TypeError: Cannot convert undefined or null to objectNode.js
• TypeError: items is not iterableNode.js
• TypeError: x is not a functionNode.js
• TypeError: Client is not a constructorNode.js
• ReferenceError: x is not definedNode.js
• ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received undefinedNode.js
• TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptablePython
• TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not iterablePython
• IndexError: list index out of rangePython
• TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'Python
• ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: ''Python
• TypeError: __init__() got an unexpected keyword argument 'proxies'Python
• UnboundLocalError: cannot access local variable 'total' where it is not associated with a...Python
• RuntimeError: dictionary changed size during iterationPython
• ValueError: too many values to unpack (expected 2)Python
• TypeError: 'str' object is not callablePython

References: Python docs: built-in types (dict, dict.get), Python docs: types.SimpleNamespace