SigNoz/signoz · error · model.ApiError

couldn't get attribute keys: %w

Error message

couldn't get attribute keys: %w

What it means

Returned by GetQBFilterSuggestionsForLogs when the underlying call to fetch log attribute keys (GetAttributeKeys against the logs data source, e.g. signoz_logs.distributed_log_attribute_keys) fails. It is an InternalError wrapping the ClickHouse query failure, so the root cause is in the wrapped %w error.

Source

Thrown at pkg/query-service/app/clickhouseReader/filter_suggestions.go:34

func (r *ClickHouseReader) GetQBFilterSuggestionsForLogs(
	ctx context.Context,
	req *v3.QBFilterSuggestionsRequest,
) (*v3.QBFilterSuggestionsResponse, *model.ApiError) {
	suggestions := v3.QBFilterSuggestionsResponse{
		AttributeKeys:  []v3.AttributeKey{},
		ExampleQueries: []v3.FilterSet{},
	}

	// Use existing autocomplete logic for generating attribute suggestions
	attribKeysResp, err := r.GetLogAttributeKeys(
		ctx, &v3.FilterAttributeKeyRequest{
			SearchText: req.SearchText,
			DataSource: v3.DataSourceLogs,
			Limit:      int(req.AttributesLimit),
		})
	if err != nil {
		return nil, model.InternalError(fmt.Errorf("couldn't get attribute keys: %w", err))
	}

	suggestions.AttributeKeys = attribKeysResp.AttributeKeys

	// Rank suggested attributes
	attribRanker.sort(suggestions.AttributeKeys)

	// Put together suggested example queries.

	newExampleQuery := func() v3.FilterSet {
		// Include existing filter in example query if specified.
		if req.ExistingFilter != nil {
			return *req.ExistingFilter
		}

		return v3.FilterSet{
			Operator: "AND",
			Items:    []v3.FilterItem{},

View on GitHub (pinned to 5069bf80b0)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped error and server logs for the real ClickHouse failure
2. Verify ClickHouse connectivity and that the logs schema (distributed_log_attribute_keys etc.) exists
3. Run/complete ClickHouse migrations if tables are missing
4. Increase ClickHouse memory/thread settings or reduce AttributesLimit if the query is being killed
5. Retry once ClickHouse is healthy

// Pre-flight: verify CH reachability and attribute-keys table exists
if err := pingClickhouse(chAddr); err != nil { return err }
if !tableExists(ctx, ch, "signoz_logs", "distributed_log_attribute_keys") {
    return fmt.Errorf("logs schema missing; run migrations")
}

func isInternalApiErr(err error) bool {
    var apiErr *model.ApiError
    return errors.As(err, &apiErr) && apiErr.Typ == model.ErrorInternal
}

suggestions, err := api.GetQBFilterSuggestionsForLogs(ctx, req)
if err != nil {
    logAttrs("attr-keys failed", err) // wrapped %w carries CH cause
    return degradeGracefully(ctx) // e.g. empty suggestions + 5xx
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the query-builder filter-suggestions API for logs while ClickHouse is unreachable, the attribute-keys table doesn't exist (cold cluster / migrations not run), or the query times out or is killed for resource limits.

Common situations: Fresh SigNoz install where ClickHouse schema/migrations haven't completed, wrong CH connection settings (CLICKHOUSE_URL misconfigured), ClickHouse overload or memory limits aborting the query, or version mismatch where the attribute keys table was renamed.

Related errors

• couldn't query attrib values for suggestions: %w
• removing a selected field is not allowed, please reach out t
• couldn't scan attrib value rows: %w
• error in processing sql query
• error in processing sql query %w

AI-assisted analysis of SigNoz/signoz@5069bf80b0 (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ae881dbf8fb7c781. Report an issue: GitHub.