Budibase/budibase · error · HTTPError

Knowledge base file is missing object key

Error message

Knowledge base file is missing object key

What it means

Thrown by getFileUrlForOperation when a knowledge base file record exists but has no objectStoreKey. The objectStoreKey is required to generate a presigned URL in the APPS bucket, so a file without one cannot be downloaded or linked.

Source

Thrown at packages/server/src/sdk/workspace/ai/rag/files.ts:327

  operationId: string,
  fileId: string
): Promise<string> => {
  const file = await knowledgeBaseSdk.getKnowledgeBaseFileOrThrow(fileId)
  const fileKnowledgeBaseId = file.knowledgeBaseId
  if (!fileKnowledgeBaseId) {
    throw new HTTPError("Invalid knowledge base file id", 400)
  }

  const knowledgeBaseIds = await getKnowledgeBaseIdsForOperation(
    agentId,
    operationId
  )
  if (!knowledgeBaseIds.includes(fileKnowledgeBaseId)) {
    throw new HTTPError("File does not belong to this operation", 404)
  }

  if (!file.objectStoreKey) {
    throw new HTTPError("Knowledge base file is missing object key", 400)
  }

  return await objectStore.getPresignedUrl(
    ObjectStoreBuckets.APPS,
    file.objectStoreKey
  )
}

const getKnowledgeBaseIdsForAgent = async (
  agentId: string
): Promise<string[]> => {
  const agent = await agentsSdk.getOrThrow(agentId)
  return (
    agent.operations?.flatMap(operation => operation.knowledgeBases || []) || []
  ).filter(Boolean)
}

export const listFilesForAgent = async (

View on GitHub (pinned to a81a902e9a)

Solutions

1. Re-upload the file so a fresh record with a valid objectStoreKey is created
2. Verify the upload pipeline persists objectStoreKey before the file record is considered ready
3. Check the file record in the database to confirm objectStoreKey is populated

Example fix

// before
const url = await getFileUrlForOperation({ operationId, fileId })
// after
const file = await knowledgeBaseSdk.getKnowledgeBaseFileOrThrow(fileId)
if (!file.objectStoreKey) {
  // re-upload or surface a proper 'file not ready' state to the user
  throw new Error(`File ${fileId} has no object store key; re-upload required`)
}
const url = await getFileUrlForOperation({ operationId, fileId })

const file = await knowledgeBaseSdk.getKnowledgeBaseFileOrThrow(fileId)
if (!file.objectStoreKey) throw new Error(`File ${fileId} has no object store key`)

const hasObjectStoreKey = (f: KnowledgeBaseFile): f is KnowledgeBaseFile & { objectStoreKey: string } => typeof f.objectStoreKey === "string" && f.objectStoreKey.length > 0

try {
  const url = await getFileUrlForOperation({ operationId, fileId })
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof HTTPError && err.status === 400) {
    // treat as 'file not stored' - re-upload or show not-available state
  } else throw err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getFileUrlForOperation with a fileId whose stored knowledge base file record lacks the objectStoreKey field (e.g. an upload that never completed object-store registration).

Common situations: Partially failed file uploads, records created by an older version before objectStoreKey was persisted, or manually inserted/corrupted DB rows.

Related errors

• Knowledge base file does not have an object key
• Cannot store document without _id field.
• Invalid object store key: path traversal is not allowed.
• Access denied to object store bucket.${err}
• Stream to upload is invalid/undefined

AI-assisted analysis of Budibase/budibase@a81a902e9a (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7db4ad2ffc33fa65. Report an issue: GitHub.