apache/flink · error · RuntimeException

Committable to compact has no content.

Error message

Committable to compact has no content.

What it means

Thrown by packAndTrigger in CompactCoordinator when a FileSinkCommittable arrives that has no pending file, no in-progress file to clean up, and no compacted file to clean up. This is an invalid/empty committable state that the coordinator cannot process. It is a defensive guard in @Internal code against unexpected committable states.

Source

Thrown at flink-connectors/flink-connector-files/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/connector/file/sink/compactor/operator/CompactCoordinator.java:117

            }
        }
        // or message instanceof CommittableSummary
        // info in CommittableSummary is not necessary for compacting at present, ignore it
    }

    private boolean packAndTrigger(FileSinkCommittable committable) {
        String bucketId = committable.getBucketId();
        CompactorRequest bucketRequest =
                packingRequests.computeIfAbsent(bucketId, CompactorRequest::new);
        if (committable.hasInProgressFileToCleanup() || committable.hasCompactedFileToCleanup()) {
            checkState(!committable.hasPendingFile());
            // cleanup request, pass through directly
            bucketRequest.addToPassthrough(committable);
            return false;
        }

        if (!committable.hasPendingFile()) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Committable to compact has no content.");
        }

        CompactTrigger trigger =
                triggers.computeIfAbsent(bucketId, id -> new CompactTrigger(strategy));
        CompactTriggerResult triggerResult = trigger.onElement(committable);
        switch (triggerResult) {
            case PASS_THROUGH:
                bucketRequest.addToPassthrough(committable);
                return false;
            case CONTINUE:
                bucketRequest.addToCompact(committable);
                return false;
            case FIRE_AND_PURGE:
                bucketRequest.addToCompact(committable);
                return true;
            default:
                throw new RuntimeException("Unexpected trigger result:" + triggerResult);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2f3c205e92)

Solutions

1. Check if the state was corrupted during storage or restore (disk errors, network issues).
2. Verify the checkpoint/savepoint was produced by a compatible FileSink version.
3. If the error persists, report as a Flink bug with the full stack trace and state details.
4. As a last resort, start from a clean state without restoring from the problematic checkpoint.

// No user-facing validation possible — this is an internal defensive guard.
// Ensure state was produced by a compatible FileSink version before restore.

try {
    coordinator.processElement(element);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().equals("Committable to compact has no content.")) {
        // internal state corruption — inspect checkpoint integrity
        // may need to start from a clean state
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A FileSinkCommittable is deserialized or constructed in a state where all content fields (pendingFile, inProgressFileToCleanup, compactedFileToCleanup) are null/absent. This could happen due to state corruption during restore, a bug in the committable construction logic, or an incompatible state from a different sink version.

Common situations: State was corrupted or restored from an incompatible Flink version; extremely rare under normal operation. This is an internal defensive guard, not a user-configurable error path.

Related errors

• Unexpected trigger result:{triggerResult}
• Unrecognized version or corrupt state: {version}
• Corrupt data: Unexpected magic number %08X
• At least one trigger condition must be configured.
• URL is invalid. This should not happen.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/flink@2f3c205e92 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bb33f75ea003b504. Report an issue: GitHub.