What causes "The importer (${importerKey}) has no import class defined." in RocketChat/Rocket.Chat?

Check the last operation's importerKey: `db.imports.find().sort({ _updatedAt: -1 }).limit(1)`

RocketChat/Rocket.Chat · error · Meteor.Error

error-importer-not-defined

error-importer-not-defined

Error message

The importer (${importerKey}) has no import class defined.

What it means

Same registry mismatch as in getImportFileData, but surfaced by getImportProgress: the latest `imports` document names an `importerKey` for which `Importers.get(importerKey)` returns undefined, so no importer class can be instantiated and progress cannot be read. The data was created by a deployment/importer this server does not register.

Source

Thrown at apps/meteor/server/meteor-methods/import/getImportProgress.ts:19

import type { IImportProgress } from '@rocket.chat/core-typings';
import type { ServerMethods } from '@rocket.chat/ddp-client';
import { Imports } from '@rocket.chat/models';
import { Meteor } from 'meteor/meteor';

import { hasPermissionAsync } from '../../lib/authorization/hasPermission';
import { methodDeprecationLogger } from '../../lib/deprecationWarningLogger';
import { Importers } from '../../lib/import';

export const executeGetImportProgress = async (): Promise<IImportProgress> => {
	const operation = await Imports.findLastImport();
	if (!operation) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-operation-not-found', 'Import Operation Not Found', 'getImportProgress');
	}

	const { importerKey } = operation;
	const importer = Importers.get(importerKey);
	if (!importer) {
		throw new Meteor.Error('error-importer-not-defined', `The importer (${importerKey}) has no import class defined.`, 'getImportProgress');
	}

	const instance = new importer.importer(importer, operation); // eslint-disable-line new-cap

	return instance.getProgress();
};

declare module '@rocket.chat/ddp-client' {
	// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/naming-convention
	interface ServerMethods {
		getImportProgress(): IImportProgress;
	}
}

Meteor.methods<ServerMethods>({
	async getImportProgress() {
		methodDeprecationLogger.method('getImportProgress', '9.0.0', '/v1/getImportProgress');
		const userId = Meteor.userId();

View on GitHub (pinned to b2c16d5842)

Solutions

Check the last operation's importerKey: `db.imports.find().sort({ _updatedAt: -1 }).limit(1)`
Remove the stale operation document and begin a new import with a currently registered key via uploadImportFile
Confirm the importer is registered on this server build before relying on old operations
Use POST /v1/getImportProgress on 9.x instead of the deprecated method

Example fix

// before
Meteor.call('getImportProgress', cb); // error-importer-not-defined

// after — clear stale doc, start fresh, then poll
// (mongo) db.imports.deleteOne({ importerKey: 'no-longer-registered-key' })
Meteor.call('uploadImportFile', binaryContent, 'text/csv', 'users.csv', 'csv');
Meteor.call('getImportProgress', cb);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

Meteor.call('getLatestImportOperations', (e, ops) => {
  const KNOWN = ['csv', 'slack', 'slack-users', 'api', 'omnichannel_contact'];
  if (!ops?.[0] || !KNOWN.includes(ops[0].importerKey)) {
    // stale operation — clear before polling progress
  }
});

Type guard

const isKnownImporterKey = (key: string | undefined): key is string =>
  !!key && ['csv', 'slack', 'slack-users', 'api', 'omnichannel_contact'].includes(key);

Try / catch

try {
  const p = await meteorCall('getImportProgress');
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Meteor.Error && e.error === 'error-importer-not-defined') {
    // stale importerKey in DB: clear operation, restart import
  }
}

Prevention

Scrub the imports collection when migrating databases between builds
Do not assume old operations remain resumable across upgrades
Log importerKey whenever starting an import to make later mismatches diagnosable

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `Meteor.call('getImportProgress')` when the last operation's importerKey is not among the server-registered keys ('csv', 'slack', 'slack-users', 'api', 'omnichannel_contact') — e.g. after migrating the database from another version/edition.

Common situations: DB restored onto a build without that importer; very old operations left in the collection from before an upgrade; mixed replicas running different feature sets writing to the same database.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of RocketChat/Rocket.Chat@b2c16d5842 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a78ce6dda7017b12. Report an issue: GitHub.