block/buzz · error

kick requires target_pubkey

Error message

kick requires target_pubkey

What it means

The 'kick' arm of `run_atomic_mutation` requires both `ctx.target_pubkey` and `ctx.channel_id` to be `Some`; this specific error fires when the target user is missing. A kick removes a specific user from a specific channel, so without a target the enforcement transaction aborts.

Source

Thrown at crates/buzz-relay/src/handlers/report_resolution.rs:725

                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("timeout requires timeout_until"))?;
            state
                .db
                .execute_timeout_with_marker(
                    action_id,
                    lease_token,
                    ctx.community_id,
                    target,
                    ctx.actor_pubkey,
                    until,
                    ctx.reason,
                )
                .await
                .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("timeout failed: {e}"))
        }
        "kick" => {
            let target = ctx
                .target_pubkey
                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("kick requires target_pubkey"))?;
            let ch = ctx
                .channel_id
                .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("kick requires channel_id"))?;
            match state
                .db
                .execute_kick_with_marker(
                    action_id,
                    lease_token,
                    ctx.community_id,
                    ch,
                    target,
                    ctx.actor_pubkey,
                )
                .await
                .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("kick failed: {e}"))?
            {
                buzz_db::relay_admin_actions::KickWithMarkerResult::Removed => Ok(true),
                buzz_db::relay_admin_actions::KickWithMarkerResult::AlreadyMarked => Ok(false),

View on GitHub (pinned to eed74bde2f)

Solutions

1. Ensure the kick action producer always records target_pubkey when enqueuing the action.
2. Locate 'kick' action rows with NULL target_pubkey and fix or discard them.
3. Add insert-time validation or a NOT NULL constraint on the kick target column.
4. Verify the ActionCtx loader maps the kick target from the correct DB column.

Example fix

// before
actions::insert(Action { kind: "kick", channel_id: Some(ch), .. })?;
// after
actions::insert(Action {
  kind: "kick",
  target_pubkey: Some(offender_pubkey),
  channel_id: Some(ch),
  ..
})?;

pub fn enqueue_kick(target: [u8; 32], channel_id: uuid::Uuid, reason: String) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
  actions::insert(Action {
    kind: "kick",
    target_pubkey: Some(target),
    channel_id: Some(channel_id),
    reason,
    ..Default::default()
  })?;
  Ok(())
}

fn kick_target(ctx: &ActionCtx) -> Option<(&[u8; 32], uuid::Uuid)> {
  let target = ctx.target_pubkey.as_ref().and_then(|b| b.try_into().ok())?;
  Some((target, ctx.channel_id?))
}

match run_atomic_mutation(&state, ctx).await {
  Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("kick requires target_pubkey") => {
    tracing::error!(action_id = %action_id, "malformed kick action: dropping");
    mark_action_failed(action_id, "missing target_pubkey").await?;
  }
  Err(e) => return Err(e),
  Ok(v) => Ok(v),
}

When it happens

Trigger: A kick enforcement action row was enqueued or leased with `target_pubkey: None` — the producer omitted the user to kick, or the DB column was NULL when the driver loaded the context.

Common situations: Kick decision made from a report where the offender's pubkey was never captured; manually inserted kick rows during testing; ctx loader reading the wrong column; user record deletion cascading the target field to NULL.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• ban requires target_pubkey
• timeout requires target_pubkey
• timeout requires timeout_until
• ban failed: {e}
• timeout failed: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of block/buzz@eed74bde2f (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0990bbe3849921e5. Report an issue: GitHub.