apache/pulsar · error · RestException

Expire message by position not issued on topic ${topicName}

Error message

Expire message by position not issued on topic ${topicName} for subscription ${subName} due to ongoing message expiration not finished or invalid message position provided.

What it means

Error "Expire message by position not issued on topic ${topicName} for subscription ${subName} due to ongoing message expiration not finished or invalid message position provided." thrown in apache/pulsar.

Source

Thrown at pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java:4355

                getEntryBatchSize(batchSizeFuture, topic, messageId, batchIndex);

                batchSizeFuture.thenAccept(bi -> {
                    Position position = calculatePositionAckSet(isExcluded, bi, batchIndex, messageId);
                    try {
                        if (messageExpirer.expireMessages(position)) {
                            log.info()
                                    .attr("position", position)
                                    .attr("topic", topicName)
                                    .attr("subscription", subName)
                                    .log("Message expire started up to on");
                        } else {
                                log.debug()
                                        .attr("topic", topicName)
                                        .attr("subscription", subName)
                                        .log("Expire message by position not issued:"
                                                + " ongoing expiration or subscription"
                                                + " almost caught up");
                                throw new RestException(Status.CONFLICT,
                                                                "Expire message by position not issued on topic "
                                    + topicName + " for subscription " + subName + " due to ongoing"
                                    + " message expiration not finished or invalid message position provided.");
                        }
                    } catch (RestException exception) {
                        throw exception;
                    } catch (Exception exception) {
                        throw new RestException(exception);
                    }
                    asyncResponse.resume(Response.noContent().build());
                }).exceptionally(e -> {
                    Throwable throwable = FutureUtil.unwrapCompletionException(e);
                    if (throwable instanceof RestException) {
                        log.warn()
                                .attr("messageId", messageId)
                                .attr("topic", topicName)
                                .attr("subscription", subName)
                                .exceptionMessage(throwable)

View on GitHub (pinned to 820761864e)

Solutions

1. Wait for any in-flight expiration on the subscription to finish and retry
2. Verify the message position exists and is valid for the subscription before expiring

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java:4355 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/pulsar@820761864e (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5aa40eec9b2a08a8. Report an issue: GitHub.