apache/cassandra · error · InvalidRequestException

SASI indexes are disabled. Enable in cassandra.yaml to use.

Error message

SASI indexes are disabled. Enable in cassandra.yaml to use.

What it means

SASI (SSTable-Attached Secondary Index) indexes are gated behind a server configuration flag `sasi_indexes_enabled` in cassandra.yaml (default disabled since SASI is not fully supported). Creating a `CREATE CUSTOM INDEX ... USING 'org.apache.cassandra.index.sasi.SASIIndex'` is rejected with an InvalidRequestException when the flag is off.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/statements/schema/CreateIndexStatement.java:152

        // save the query state to use it for guardrails validation in #apply
        this.state = state;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean compatibleWith(ClusterMetadata metadata)
    {
        return metadata.directory.commonSerializationVersion.isAtLeast(Version.V0);
    }

    @Override
    public Keyspaces apply(ClusterMetadata metadata)
    {
        attrs.validate();

        Guardrails.createSecondaryIndexesEnabled.ensureEnabled("Creating secondary indexes", state);

        if (attrs.isCustom && attrs.customClass.equals(SASIIndex.class.getName()) && !DatabaseDescriptor.getSASIIndexesEnabled())
            throw new InvalidRequestException(SASI_INDEX_DISABLED);

        Keyspaces schema = metadata.schema.getKeyspaces();
        KeyspaceMetadata keyspace = schema.getNullable(keyspaceName);
        if (null == keyspace)
            throw ire(KEYSPACE_DOES_NOT_EXIST, keyspaceName);

        TableMetadata table = keyspace.getTableOrViewNullable(tableName);
        if (null == table)
            throw ire(TABLE_DOES_NOT_EXIST, tableName);

        if (null != indexName && keyspace.hasIndex(indexName))
        {
            if (ifNotExists)
                return schema;

            throw ire(INDEX_ALREADY_EXISTS, indexName);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

1. Set `sasi_indexes_enabled: true` in cassandra.yaml on all nodes and restart, if you intentionally want SASI.
2. Prefer migrating the index to Storage-Attached Indexing (SAI) or a standard secondary index instead of enabling SASI.
3. If the SASI DDL is incidental, remove/rewrite the `CREATE CUSTOM INDEX ... USING '...SASIIndex'` statement.

Example fix

// cassandra.yaml
// before
sasi_indexes_enabled: false
// after
sasi_indexes_enabled: true

-- or before
CREATE CUSTOM INDEX i ON t (col) USING 'org.apache.cassandra.index.sasi.SASIIndex';
-- after (SAI on 5.x)
CREATE CUSTOM INDEX i ON t (col) USING 'StorageAttachedIndex';

boolean sasiEnabled = conf.getBoolean("sasi_indexes_enabled", false);
if (ddl.contains("SASIIndex") && !sasiEnabled)
    throw new IllegalStateException("SASI disabled in cassandra.yaml; enable sasi_indexes_enabled or rewrite DDL");

try { session.execute(createIndexDdl); }
catch (InvalidQueryException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("SASI indexes are disabled"))
      throw new ConfigurationException("set sasi_indexes_enabled: true (or migrate to SAI)", e);
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Executing `CREATE CUSTOM INDEX ... USING 'org.apache.cassandra.index.sasi.SASIIndex'` while `DatabaseDescriptor.getSASIIndexesEnabled()` returns false, i.e. `sasi_indexes_enabled: false` (or absent) in cassandra.yaml.

Common situations: Copying legacy SASI DDL onto a newer Cassandra install where SASI is disabled by default; migration scripts from 3.x that still create SASI indexes; cluster hardening where SASI was turned off for supportability.

Related errors

• Invalid data storage: ${value}. It shouldn't be more than ${
• Invalid data storage: value must be non-negative
• Invalid data storage: %d %s. It shouldn't be more than %d in
• Unsupported data storage unit: %s. Supported units are: %s
• Configured ${configName} "${intf}" could not be found

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e2c01ce2280ee712. Report an issue: GitHub.