What causes "Failed to show partitions: " in apache/seatunnel?

Check the appended Milvus message in the exception — it names the RPC failure reason (e.g. 'collection not found')

apache/seatunnel · error · MilvusConnectorException

LIST_PARTITIONS_FAILED

LIST_PARTITIONS_FAILED

Error message

Failed to show partitions:

What it means

MilvusSourceSplitEnumerator.generateSplits throws LIST_PARTITIONS_FAILED when the Milvus showPartitions RPC returns a non-success status while enumerating splits for a source collection. Split enumeration cannot proceed without the partition list, so the job fails at startup or during split generation.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-milvus/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/milvus/source/MilvusSourceSplitEnumerator.java:142

                client.describeCollection(
                        DescribeCollectionParam.newBuilder()
                                .withDatabaseName(database)
                                .withCollectionName(collection)
                                .build());
        boolean hasPartitionKey =
                describeCollectionResponseR.getData().getSchema().getFieldsList().stream()
                        .anyMatch(FieldSchema::getIsPartitionKey);
        List<MilvusSourceSplit> milvusSourceSplits = new ArrayList<>();
        if (!hasPartitionKey) {
            ShowPartitionsParam showPartitionsParam =
                    ShowPartitionsParam.newBuilder()
                            .withDatabaseName(database)
                            .withCollectionName(collection)
                            .build();
            R<ShowPartitionsResponse> showPartitionsResponseR =
                    client.showPartitions(showPartitionsParam);
            if (showPartitionsResponseR.getStatus() != R.Status.Success.getCode()) {
                throw new MilvusConnectorException(
                        MilvusConnectionErrorCode.LIST_PARTITIONS_FAILED,
                        "Failed to show partitions: " + showPartitionsResponseR.getMessage());
            }
            List<String> partitionList = showPartitionsResponseR.getData().getPartitionNamesList();
            for (String partitionName : partitionList) {
                MilvusSourceSplit milvusSourceSplit =
                        MilvusSourceSplit.builder()
                                .tablePath(table.getTablePath())
                                .splitId(createSplitId(table.getTablePath(), partitionName))
                                .partitionName(partitionName)
                                .build();
                log.info("Generated split: {}", milvusSourceSplit);
                milvusSourceSplits.add(milvusSourceSplit);
            }
        } else {
            MilvusSourceSplit milvusSourceSplit =
                    MilvusSourceSplit.builder()
                            .tablePath(table.getTablePath())

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

Check the appended Milvus message in the exception — it names the RPC failure reason (e.g. 'collection not found')
Confirm the database and collection still exist in Milvus before starting the job
Verify the Milvus user has permission to list partitions on that collection
If partitions change frequently, avoid partition drops during job startup or re-run the job
Check Milvus server health/logs for internal errors

Example fix

// before: collection deleted by a retention job while the SeaTunnel job started
// after: pause retention cleanup or pin a stable collection name in table_path
url = "milvus://db1/coll"  // ensure 'coll' exists: SHOW COLLECTIONS / attu check

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

R<HasCollectionResponse> has = client.hasCollection(HasCollectionParam.newBuilder()
    .withDatabaseName(db).withCollectionName(coll).build());
if (has.getStatus() != R.Status.Success.getCode() || !has.getData().has())
    throw new IllegalStateException("Collection " + db + "." + coll + " not listable");

Try / catch

try {
  startJob();
} catch (MilvusConnectorException e) {
  if (e.getErrorCode() == MilvusConnectionErrorCode.LIST_PARTITIONS_FAILED) {
    logger.error("showPartitions failed: {}", e.getMessage()); // message carries Milvus reason
    // re-verify collection existence, then resubmit
  } else { throw e; }
}

Prevention

Ensure collections are not dropped by retention jobs while the job starts
Grant the Milvus user partition-listing privileges
Use exact, case-correct database/collection names in table_path

When it happens

Trigger: client.showPartitions(ShowPartitionsParam.withDatabaseName/withCollectionName) returns status != R.Status.Success — e.g. collection deleted between catalog discovery and split enumeration, insufficient permissions, or a Milvus server error.

Common situations: Collection dropped by TTL/retention policy while the SeaTunnel job was being submitted, typo'd or case-mismatched database/collection names, Milvus user lacking privileges on the collection, or Milvus cluster instability.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9feab7b30177a449. Report an issue: GitHub.