HKUDS/Vibe-Trading · warning · SkipAlpha

{alpha_id}: panel missing required columns {missing}

Error message

{alpha_id}: panel missing required columns {missing}

What it means

Registry.compute checks the panel against the alpha's declared columns_required metadata before running compute(). If any required column (e.g. 'open', 'volume', 'vwap') is absent from the panel dict, it raises SkipAlpha so the caller can skip this factor rather than crash inside pandas.

Source

Thrown at agent/src/factors/registry.py:334

            "errors": [
                {"alpha_id": e.alpha_id, "reason": e.reason} for e in self._load_errors
            ],
        }

    def compute(self, alpha_id: str, panel: dict[str, pd.DataFrame]) -> pd.DataFrame:
        """Lazy-import the alpha module and run its ``compute(panel)``.

        Raises:
            KeyError: alpha_id unknown.
            SkipAlpha: required column / sector tag absent in panel.
            RegistryError: import/compute failed or output failed sanity checks.
        """
        alpha = self.get(alpha_id)
        meta = alpha.meta

        missing = [c for c in meta.get("columns_required", []) if c not in panel]
        if missing:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing required columns {missing}")
        missing_extra = [c for c in meta.get("extras_required", []) if c not in panel]
        if missing_extra:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing extras {missing_extra}")
        if meta.get("requires_sector") and "sector" not in panel:
            raise SkipAlpha(f"{alpha_id}: panel missing sector tag")

        try:
            module = self._load_module(alpha)
        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — isolate import failure
            raise RegistryError(f"{alpha_id}: import failed: {exc}") from exc

        compute_fn = getattr(module, "compute", None)
        if compute_fn is None:
            raise RegistryError(f"{alpha_id}: module has no compute() function")

        try:
            result = compute_fn(panel)
        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — isolate compute failure

View on GitHub (pinned to 80ffdda44c)

Solutions

1. Add the missing column(s) to the panel before compute
2. Pick alphas whose columns_required match your panel (filter via meta)
3. Wrap compute in a SkipAlpha handler to skip cleanly in batch runs

Example fix

# before
out = registry.compute('alpha_029', {'close': close_df})
# after
panel = {'close': close_df, 'open': open_df, 'volume': vol_df, 'high': high_df, 'low': low_df, 'returns': ret_df}
out = registry.compute('alpha_029', panel)

meta = registry.get(alpha_id).meta
missing = [c for c in meta.get('columns_required', []) if c not in panel]
if missing: skip(alpha_id, f'missing {missing}')

def panel_has(panel: dict, meta: dict) -> bool:
    return all(c in panel for c in meta.get('columns_required', []))

try:
    out = registry.compute(aid, panel)
except SkipAlpha:
    continue

When it happens

Trigger: compute(alpha_id, panel) where panel lacks one of meta['columns_required'] — e.g. an OHLC-only panel passed to an alpha requiring 'vwap'.

Common situations: Building panels from a data source that omits adjusted volume or vwap; mixing zoo families (Alpha101 vs GTJA191) with different column needs; forgetting to add benchmark/returns columns.

Related errors

• {alpha_id}: panel missing extras {missing_extra}
• {alpha_id}: panel missing sector tag
• panel missing 'close' — cannot derive forward returns
• {path}: layout={layout!r} needs metric=... -- a wide table h
• {path}: layout={layout!r} needs currency=... -- a wide table

AI-assisted analysis of HKUDS/Vibe-Trading@80ffdda44c (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a25ec9ad3c698e05. Report an issue: GitHub.