Caddy: Caddyfile:2: unrecognized directive

Caddy parses a Caddyfile into its JSON configuration before it starts. A line inside a site block whose first word is not a known directive stops caddy run, caddy validate and caddy adapt with Caddyfile:2: unrecognized directive: reverse_proxi, where 2 is the line number.

Reproduce it

caddy adapt converts the Caddyfile without starting a server:

printf 'example.com {\n\treverse_proxi localhost:3000\n}\n' > Caddyfile
# Caddy logs as JSON; sed removes the timestamp field
caddy adapt --config Caddyfile 2>&1 | sed -E 's/"ts":[0-9.]+,//'
exit "${PIPESTATUS[0]}"

{"level":"error","msg":"Caddyfile:2: unrecognized directive: reverse_proxi"}

Fix it

example.com {
	reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

If the directive is right but comes from a plugin, check whether your binary has it:

caddy list-modules | grep -i rate_limit

Global options belong in the block at the very top, without an address:

{
	email admin@example.com
}

example.com {
	reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}