I encountered the very same error. I was following this guide: https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/tips-and-tricks/write-your-own-search-language.html What I noticed was that this guide is from 2008. Newer version of Splunk already have a built-in "shape" command. This one is defined in etc/system/default/searchbnf.conf: [shape-command]
syntax = shape <field> (maxvalues=<int>)? (maxresolution=<int>)?
shortdesc = Produces a symbolic 'shape' attribute describing the shape of a numeric multivalued field. Apparently, the built-in shape command takes precedence over your custom shape command when running a search. So I suggest rename your "shape" command to "shape2" or something else.
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