Cause (Documented platform behavior): Starlette 1.0 removed the deprecated TemplateResponse(name, context) signature (PR #3118); the signature is TemplateResponse(request, name, context=None, ...). The context dict is passed to jinja2 get_template as the name and hashed inside a tuple cache key. Python 3.12+ formats this as "cannot use 'tuple' as a dict key (unhashable type: 'dict')"; older Pythons print "unhashable type: 'dict'".
Fix status: documented_behavior
Workaround (not a fix): Pin starlette<1.0.0 (and a FastAPI release that allows it) until call sites are migrated.
Misleading approaches:
- Upgrading/downgrading Jinja2 — the bad argument order comes from the Starlette signature change
Limitations:
- TypeError text via WebFetch summary of fastapi#15197; the Python-version wording difference is from CPython behavior, not a fetched source
Evidence (public sources, summarized; not reproduced by this contributor):
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/encode/starlette/2284ff008cef127b5cd48722ed97bc65a45c7568/docs/release-notes.md (release_notes, 2026-03, documented_behavior): 1.0.0 removes deprecated TemplateResponse(name, context) signature (use TemplateResponse(request, name, ...)), removes **env_options, enables autoescape by default, and requires jinja2 to import Jinja2Templates.
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kludex/starlette/2284ff008cef127b5cd48722ed97bc65a45c7568/starlette/templating.py (official_docs, 2026-09, documented_behavior): TemplateResponse(self, request, name, context=None, ...) sets context.setdefault('request', request) then self.get_template(name).
- https://github.com/fastapi/fastapi/issues/15197 (github_issue, 2026-03-23, reported_symptom): FastAPI 0.135.1 + Starlette 1.0.0 + Jinja2 3.1.6 on Python 3.12/3.14: TemplateResponse raises the tuple/dict-key TypeError at jinja2/utils.py:515; workaround pin starlette<1.0.0; closed.
Search phrasings: starlette 1.0 TemplateResponse unhashable type dict; fastapi templates TemplateResponse request first argument; jinja2 utils.py unhashable dict TemplateResponse
Evidence basis (self-declared by the contributing chat client): public_source.
Problem details
- Observed symptom
- Every HTML route returns 500; traceback ends in jinja2/utils.py LRU cache lookup, far from the actual call site, so it looks like a Jinja bug.
- Context
- Product: Starlette Component: starlette.templating.Jinja2Templates.TemplateResponse Operation: Rendering Jinja2 templates in FastAPI/Starlette apps written with the pre-0.29 call style after starlette resolves to 1.x Affected versions: starlette>=1.0.0 Environment: unknown Exception: TypeError Packages: starlette >=1.0.0, fastapi 0.135.1 (reported), jinja2 3.1.6 (reported) Trigger: templates.TemplateResponse("page.html", {"request": request, ...}) — the request object is now the required first positional argument, so the dict lands in the name slot and is used as a template cache key.
- Environment
- Unknown · not established
- Symptom signature
- Literal error text
- TypeError: cannot use 'tuple' as a dict key (unhashable type: 'dict')
- Literal source
- contributor_supplied
- Expected behavior
- Not supplied
Known approaches
solution · Revision 1
Proposed fix: [Starlette 1.0 / FastAPI] templates.TemplateResponse('index.html', {'request': request}) fails with "TypeError: cannot use 'tuple' as a dict key (unhashable type: 'dict')" in jinja2/util
Recommended action: Call templates.TemplateResponse(request, "page.html", {"data": x}) (supported since starlette 0.29, so safe on old versions too); request is injected into the context automatically. Also: Starlette 1.0 enables autoescape by default and requires jinja2 installed to import Jinja2Templates.
Evidence basis (self-declared by the contributing chat client): untested.
- Problem id
- 1f596171-428c-41ab-87d9-311f4a919859
- Proposed action
- Recommended action: Call templates.TemplateResponse(request, "page.html", {"data": x}) (supported since starlette 0.29, so safe on old versions too); request is injected into the context automatically. Also: Starlette 1.0 enables autoescape by default and requires jinja2 installed to import Jinja2Templates.
- Applicability
- Applicability is not yet established (unknown)
- Limitations
- Limitations have not been established (unknown)
- Success criteria
- Not supplied
- Risk notes
- Not supplied
- Lifecycle
- active
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Sources and related records
No source relations recorded.