{"record":{"id":"5bae01145a7cb063","repo":"apache/beam","slug":"invalid-gcs-location-r-writing-to-bigquery-with-file-loads","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Invalid GCS location: %r.\nWriting to BigQuery with FILE_LOADS method requires a GCS location to be provided to write files to be loaded into BigQuery. Please provide a GCS bucket through custom_gcs_temp_location in the constructor of WriteToBigQuery or the fallback option --temp_location, or pass method=\"STREAMING_INSERTS\" to WriteToBigQuery.","messagePattern":"Invalid GCS location: %r\\.\nWriting to BigQuery with FILE_LOADS method requires a GCS location to be provided to write files to be loaded into BigQuery\\. Please provide a GCS bucket through custom_gcs_temp_location in the constructor of WriteToBigQuery or the fallback option --temp_location, or pass method=\"STREAMING_INSERTS\" to WriteToBigQuery\\.","errorType":"validation","errorClass":"ValueError","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_file_loads.py","lineNumber":132,"sourceCode":"      step_id=step_name,\n      job_type=job_type,\n      random=_bq_uuid())\n\n\ndef file_prefix_generator(\n    with_validation=True, pipeline_gcs_location=None, temp_location=None):\n  def _generate_file_prefix(unused_elm):\n    # If a gcs location is provided to the pipeline, then we shall use that.\n    # Otherwise, we shall use the temp_location from pipeline options.\n    gcs_base = pipeline_gcs_location.get()\n    if not gcs_base:\n      gcs_base = temp_location\n\n    # This will fail at pipeline execution time, but will fail early, as this\n    # step doesn't have any dependencies (and thus will be one of the first\n    # stages to be run).\n    if with_validation and (not gcs_base or not gcs_base.startswith('gs://')):\n      raise ValueError(\n          'Invalid GCS location: %r.\\n'\n          'Writing to BigQuery with FILE_LOADS method requires a'\n          ' GCS location to be provided to write files to be loaded'\n          ' into BigQuery. Please provide a GCS bucket through'\n          ' custom_gcs_temp_location in the constructor of WriteToBigQuery'\n          ' or the fallback option --temp_location, or pass'\n          ' method=\"STREAMING_INSERTS\" to WriteToBigQuery.' % gcs_base)\n\n    prefix_uuid = _bq_uuid()\n    return fs.FileSystems.join(gcs_base, 'bq_load', prefix_uuid)\n\n  return _generate_file_prefix\n\n\ndef _make_new_file_writer(\n    file_prefix,\n    destination,\n    file_format,","sourceCodeStart":114,"sourceCodeEnd":150,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/apache/beam/blob/12126d8942aaf848030c478b4c6a28c6af861c66/sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_file_loads.py#L114-L150","documentation":"The BigQuery FILE_LOADS write method stages rows as files in GCS before loading them into BigQuery. Before writing, Beam validates that the resolved GCS base path (custom_gcs_temp_location, else temp_location) exists and starts with 'gs://'. If not, it raises this ValueError early in the pipeline rather than failing later at execution time.","triggerScenarios":"Calling WriteToBigQuery with method=FILE_LOADS (the default for batch) where neither custom_gcs_temp_location nor the pipeline's --temp_location is set, or the resolved location is not a 'gs://' URI.","commonSituations":"Running batch BigQuery loads locally without --temp_location, passing a local path like '/tmp' instead of a GCS bucket, or migrating code that previously used STREAMING_INSERTS to FILE_LOADS.","solutions":["Pass custom_gcs_temp_location='gs://my-bucket/temp' to WriteToBigQuery.","Provide --temp_location gs://my-bucket/temp in PipelineOptions.","Switch to method='STREAMING_INSERTS' if a GCS staging bucket is not available."],"exampleFix":"// before\nresult | beam.io.WriteToBigQuery('proj:dataset.table')\n// after\nresult | beam.io.WriteToBigQuery('proj:dataset.table',\n    custom_gcs_temp_location='gs://my-bucket/temp')","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"loc = custom_gcs_temp_location or temp_location\nif not loc or not str(loc).startswith('gs://'):\n    raise ValueError('Need a gs:// staging location for FILE_LOADS')","typeGuard":"def is_gcs_uri(loc) -> bool:\n    return isinstance(loc, str) and loc.startswith('gs://')","tryCatchPattern":"try:\n    result | beam.io.WriteToBigQuery(table, method=WriteToBigQuery.Method.FILE_LOADS)\nexcept ValueError as e:\n    if 'Invalid GCS location' in str(e):\n        rerun_with_gcs_location()","preventionTips":["Always pass custom_gcs_temp_location or --temp_location for batch BigQuery writes","Ensure URIs include the gs:// scheme","Add a pipeline-options lint check before submitting jobs"],"tags":["gcp","bigquery","gcs","configuration"],"backgroundTag":"invalid-url-format","analyzedSha":"12126d8942aaf848030c478b4c6a28c6af861c66","analyzedAt":"2026-09-13T01:50:10.254Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-13T01:50:10.254Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-14T21:17:11.552Z"}