{"record":{"id":"7f40acc4f9fc1791","repo":"vitessio/vitess","slug":"error-converting-vtexplain-to-text-output-w","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"error converting vtexplain to text output: %w","messagePattern":"error converting vtexplain to text output: %w","errorType":"exception","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"warning","filePath":"go/vt/vtadmin/api.go","lineNumber":2823,"sourceCode":"\t\treturn nil, er.Error()\n\t}\n\n\tts := memorytopo.NewServer(ctx, vtexplain.Cell)\n\tsrvTopoCounts := stats.NewCountersWithSingleLabel(\"\", \"Resilient srvtopo server operations\", \"type\")\n\tvte, err := vtexplain.Init(ctx, api.env, ts, srvVSchema, schema, shardMap, &vtexplain.Options{ReplicationMode: \"ROW\"}, srvTopoCounts)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"error initilaizing vtexplain: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\tdefer vte.Stop()\n\n\tplans, err := vte.Run(req.Sql)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"error running vtexplain: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\tresponse, err := vte.ExplainsAsText(plans)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"error converting vtexplain to text output: %w\", err)\n\t}\n\n\treturn &vtadminpb.VTExplainResponse{\n\t\tResponse: response,\n\t}, nil\n}\n\n// WorkflowDelete is part of the vtadminpb.VTAdminServer interface.\nfunc (api *API) WorkflowDelete(ctx context.Context, req *vtadminpb.WorkflowDeleteRequest) (*vtctldatapb.WorkflowDeleteResponse, error) {\n\tspan, ctx := trace.NewSpan(ctx, \"API.WorkflowDelete\")\n\tdefer span.Finish()\n\n\tspan.Annotate(\"cluster_id\", req.ClusterId)\n\n\tif !api.authz.IsAuthorized(ctx, req.ClusterId, rbac.WorkflowResource, rbac.DeleteAction) {\n\t\treturn nil, fmt.Errorf(\"%w: cannot delete workflow in %s\", errors.ErrUnauthorized, req.ClusterId)\n\t}\n","sourceCodeStart":2805,"sourceCodeEnd":2841,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/blob/01a25a7d176f94613b8d59d799f438380a8760e4/go/vt/vtadmin/api.go#L2805-L2841","documentation":"The explain plans were produced, but converting them to human-readable text via vte.ExplainsAsText failed. This is a rare formatting-layer failure after successful planning; the plans themselves may be malformed or an internal invariant was violated.","triggerScenarios":"vte.ExplainsAsText(plans) returns an error after vte.Run succeeded — typically an internal issue in formatting explain results (unexpected plan shape/empty plans).","commonSituations":"Panic-free internal formatting bugs; plans list produced in an unexpected state; concurrent modification of plans; edge-case queries whose plan output has no renderer path.","solutions":["Retry the request; if deterministic, capture the exact SQL and plans and report a Vitess bug with the repro.","Check the wrapped inner error message for the specific formatting failure.","Try a simpler query against the same keyspace to isolate whether the query shape triggers it.","Upgrade to the latest Vitess patch release where the vtexplain formatting bug may already be fixed.","As a workaround, use `vtexplain` CLI or VTGate EXPLAIN paths if they support the query."],"exampleFix":"// before\nresponse, err := vte.ExplainsAsText(plans)\n// after (caller-side fallback)\nresponse, err := vte.ExplainsAsText(plans)\nif err != nil {\n    log.Warn(\"ExplainsAsText failed, returning raw plans\", slog.Any(\"error\", err))\n    response = fmt.Sprintf(\"%+v\", plans)\n}","handlingStrategy":"fallback","validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"response, err := vte.ExplainsAsText(plans)\nif err != nil {\n    log.Warn(\"ExplainsAsText failed; falling back to raw plan dump\", slog.Any(\"error\", err))\n    response = fmt.Sprintf(\"%+v\", plans)\n}","preventionTips":["Pin to a Vitess patch release where known vtexplain formatting issues are fixed.","Capture failing SQL and plans and report upstream as a bug rather than silently dropping.","Keep queries exercised in staging so rare plan shapes are discovered early."],"tags":["vtadmin","vtexplain","internal","formatting"],"backgroundTag":"vtexplain-output-formatting-failed","analyzedSha":"01a25a7d176f94613b8d59d799f438380a8760e4","analyzedAt":"2026-09-01T17:28:30.605Z","contentChangedAt":null,"schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-08T10:18:20.063Z"}