clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB · error

Publish failed with HTTP

Error message

Publish failed with HTTP {}

What it means

`execute_publish_configs` POSTs the compiled module and environment payload to the server, then requires the HTTP response to be a success status via `ensure!`. Any non-2xx response (authentication failure, invalid module, name conflicts, server errors, proxy errors) aborts the publish with this message including the status code.

Solutions

1. Read the printed HTTP status: 401/403 → re-authenticate (`spacetime login`), 4xx → fix the request (module errors, name conflicts), 5xx → server-side problem.
2. Re-run `spacetime login` to refresh credentials, then retry the publish.
3. Check the server is running the expected version and inspect its logs for the rejection reason.
4. Verify network path/proxy isn't intercepting the request (status like 502/504 suggests infrastructure).

Example fix

// before
spacetime publish --server https://prod.example mydb
// error: Publish failed with HTTP 401 Unauthorized
// after
spacetime login --server https://prod.example
spacetime publish --server https://prod.example mydb

// shell pre-flight
spacetime login show --server "$SERVER" >/dev/null || spacetime login --server "$SERVER"

// rust
match publish().await {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("Publish failed with HTTP") => {
        if e.to_string().contains("401") || e.to_string().contains("403") {
            relogin().await?; retry_publish().await
        } else { Err(e) }
    }
    other => other,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Publishing a module that fails server-side validation (HTTP 422/500), publishing with expired/invalid credentials (401/403), publishing to a database name you don't own (PermissionDenied), or hitting a proxy/CDN error page.

Common situations: Expired login token after a period of inactivity; a database already published by another identity; server version older than the CLI and rejects the payload; reverse proxy returning 502/503.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API error: {status}" and "HTTP 401/403/404/429/5xx" errors: non-2xx HTTP responses explained — this error's family across 27 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot read environment schema: HTTP
• Environment publish failed with HTTP
• Aborted.
• Cannot use module-specific arguments
• {e}

AI-assisted analysis of clockworklabs/SpacetimeDB@eddf9f5014 (2026-09-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d53325b21c924fb7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/cli/src/subcommands/publish.rs:775

        if let Some(org) = org {
            builder = builder.query(&[("org", org)]);
        }

        println!("Publishing module...");

        builder = add_auth_header_opt(builder, &auth_header);

        // Set the host type.
        builder = builder.query(&[("host_type", host_type)]);

        let (content_type, payload) =
            publication_body(&module_schema, program_bytes, environment.values, environment_options)?;
        let res = builder
            .header(reqwest::header::CONTENT_TYPE, content_type)
            .body(payload)
            .send()
            .await?;
        anyhow::ensure!(res.status().is_success(), "Publish failed with HTTP {}", res.status());
        let response: PublishResult = res
            .json()
            .await
            .map_err(|_| anyhow::anyhow!("Invalid publish response"))?;
        match response {
            PublishResult::Success {
                domain,
                database_identity,
                op,
            } => {
                let op = match op {
                    PublishOp::Created => "Created new",
                    PublishOp::Updated => "Updated",
                };
                if let Some(ref domain) = domain {
                    println!("{op} database with name: {domain}, identity: {database_identity}");
                } else {
                    println!("{op} database with identity: {database_identity}");

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