apache/cassandra · error · IllegalArgumentException

No in progress sequence for

Error message

No in progress sequence for 

What it means

cancelInProgressSequences looks up an in-progress MultiStepOperation for the given NodeId in the current ClusterMetadata. If no sequence is registered for that node it throws IllegalArgumentException, because there is nothing to cancel. This guards nodetool-driven cancellation against stale or wrong node identifiers.

Solutions

1. Verify the exact node id with nodetool status / cluster metadata before cancelling
2. Check whether the sequence already completed or failed; a completed sequence cannot be cancelled
3. Re-run the cancellation only if the sequence is genuinely listed as in progress
4. If the sequence is stuck but not visible in inProgressSequences, investigate TCM metadata state rather than retrying cancel

Example fix

// before
inProgressSequences.cancelInProgressSequences(nodeId, kind); // may throw if none
// after
if (ClusterMetadata.current().inProgressSequences.get(NodeId.fromString(nodeId)) != null)
    inProgressSequences.cancelInProgressSequences(nodeId, kind);
else
    logger.info("No in-progress sequence for {}, nothing to cancel", nodeId);

NodeId owner = NodeId.fromString(sequenceOwner);
if (ClusterMetadata.current().inProgressSequences.get(owner) == null)
    return false; // nothing to cancel

boolean hasInProgressSequence(String nodeId) {
    return ClusterMetadata.current().inProgressSequences.get(NodeId.fromString(nodeId)) != null;
}

try { cancelInProgressSequences(owner, kind); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { logger.info("Nothing to cancel for {}: {}", owner, e.getMessage()); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling StorageService/InProgressSequences.cancelInProgressSequences(owner, kind) with a node id that has no entry in ClusterMetadata.current().inProgressSequences, e.g. after the sequence already completed, failed, or a wrong NodeId string was passed.

Common situations: Operator tries to cancel a bootstrap/replace that already finished; typo in the node id passed to nodetool; attempt to cancel on a node that never started a sequence; retrying a cancel that already succeeded.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• No in progress sequence of kind for (only in progress)
• Can not add a new in-progress sequence for
• Keyspace not found in cluster metadata.
• Aggregate ' ' doesn't exist
• All nodes are not yet upgraded

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/31b1bf7b088840c7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tcm/sequences/InProgressSequences.java:91

            if (sequence == null)
                return metadata;
            if (onlyStartupSafeSequences && !sequence.finishDuringStartup())
                return metadata;
            if (isLeave(sequence))
                StorageService.instance.maybeInitializeServices();
            if (resume(sequence))
                metadata = ClusterMetadata.current();
            else
                return metadata;
        }
    }

    public static boolean cancelInProgressSequences(String sequenceOwner, String expectedSequenceKind)
    {
        NodeId owner = NodeId.fromString(sequenceOwner);
        MultiStepOperation<?> seq = ClusterMetadata.current().inProgressSequences.get(owner);
        if (seq == null)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("No in progress sequence for "+sequenceOwner);
        MultiStepOperation.Kind expectedKind = MultiStepOperation.Kind.valueOf(expectedSequenceKind);
        if (seq.kind() != expectedKind)
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("No in progress sequence of kind " + expectedKind + " for " + owner + " (only " + seq.kind() +" in progress)");

        return StorageService.cancelInProgressSequences(owner);
    }

    @Override
    public InProgressSequences withLastModified(Epoch epoch)
    {
        return new InProgressSequences(epoch, state);
    }

    @Override
    public Epoch lastModified()
    {
        return lastModified;
    }

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