apache/pulsar · error · RuntimeException

Invalid compression type

Error message

Invalid compression type

What it means

CompressionCodecProvider.convertToWireProtocol maps the public client CompressionType enum onto the wire-protocol CompressionType. Every known codec (NONE, LZ4, ZLIB, ZSTD, SNAPPY) is handled by the switch; reaching the default branch means an unknown/unsupported enum value, and it throws RuntimeException 'Invalid compression type'.

Source

Thrown at pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/compression/CompressionCodecProvider.java:70

        return codecs.get(convertToWireProtocol(type));
    }

    public static org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType convertToWireProtocol(
            CompressionType compressionType) {
        switch (compressionType) {
        case NONE:
            return org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.NONE;
        case LZ4:
            return org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.LZ4;
        case ZLIB:
            return org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.ZLIB;
        case ZSTD:
            return org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.ZSTD;
        case SNAPPY:
            return org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.SNAPPY;

        default:
            throw new RuntimeException("Invalid compression type");
        }
    }

    public static CompressionType convertFromWireProtocol(
            org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType compressionType) {
        switch (compressionType) {
        case NONE:
            return CompressionType.NONE;
        case LZ4:
            return CompressionType.LZ4;
        case ZLIB:
            return CompressionType.ZLIB;
        case ZSTD:
            return CompressionType.ZSTD;
        case SNAPPY:
            return CompressionType.SNAPPY;

        default:

View on GitHub (pinned to 820761864e)

Solutions

1. Verify the CompressionType passed is one of NONE, LZ4, ZLIB, ZSTD, or SNAPPY; validate or default to NONE before conversion.
2. Align client and broker library versions so both sides support the same codec set.
3. Null-check / whitelist-check the configured codec name at startup and fail fast with a clear configuration error.
4. Catch the RuntimeException where conversion happens and log the offending enum value to identify the source.

Example fix

// before
CompressionType type = CompressionType.valueOf(config.getCompression()); // may yield unknown/null
send(convertToWireProtocol(type));
// after
CompressionType type = SUPPORTED.contains(config.getCompression())
    ? CompressionType.valueOf(config.getCompression())
    : CompressionType.NONE; // whitelist: NONE, LZ4, ZLIB, ZSTD, SNAPPY

private static final Set<CompressionType> SUPPORTED = EnumSet.of(
    CompressionType.NONE, CompressionType.LZ4, CompressionType.ZLIB,
    CompressionType.ZSTD, CompressionType.SNAPPY);
if (type == null || !SUPPORTED.contains(type)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("unsupported compression type: " + type);
}

try {
    wire = CompressionCodecProvider.convertToWireProtocol(type);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
    log.warn("Invalid compression type {}, falling back to NONE", type);
    wire = org.apache.pulsar.common.api.proto.CompressionType.NONE;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a CompressionType value not covered by the switch — typically null, a custom/exotic enum constant, or an enum from a different library version with a codec this provider doesn't recognize.

Common situations: Client/server version skew where a newer codec enum isn't handled; configuration loading a compression name that maps to an unexpected enum; passing null compression type into conversion paths; reflective/dynamic codec selection picking an unsupported value.

Related errors

• Unsupported token endpoint auth method: ${value}
• --offloadedReadPriority parameter must be one of ${allowed}
• Unrecognized auto_failover_policy: ${policyType}
• --offloadedReadPriority parameter must be one of %s but got:
• Unknown RegexImplementation:

AI-assisted analysis of apache/pulsar@820761864e (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/51dab3ffd5d04d38. Report an issue: GitHub.