invalid data version

Error message

invalid data version: {:?}, This program version is {:?}; The latest compatible program version is: {:?}

What it means

After reading the header line, validate_version parses the DataVersion and checks DATA_VERSION.is_compatible(version). If the data on disk was written by an incompatible program version, it reports the data's version, the current program version, and the latest compatible program version. This protects against restoring or upgrading meta data across unsupported version boundaries.

Solutions

Upgrade the binary to a version whose DATA_VERSION is compatible with the dump (usually the newest release)
Check the printed 'latest compatible program version' and pin that release for the migration
Follow the documented multi-step upgrade path instead of jumping versions
Regenerate the dump with a compatible source version if the data is too new

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// after reading header
let v = read_version(first_line)?;
if !DATA_VERSION.is_compatible(v) {
    eprintln!("dump v{:?} incompatible with binary v{:?}; upgrade first", v, DATA_VERSION);
    std::process::exit(2);
}

Try / catch

match validate_version(&mut lines) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("invalid data version") => {
        plan_upgrade_from(&e.to_string());
    }
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Keep backup/restore binaries on the same release line as the data
Follow the documented multi-step upgrade path
Record the Databend version in backup metadata

When it happens

Trigger: Calling validate_version on a dump whose header version fails DATA_VERSION.is_compatible — e.g. data written by a much newer or older Databend meta-service build.

Common situations: Restoring a backup made by a newer Databend into an older binary; skipping multiple releases during upgrade; mixing release tags when running meta upgrade tooling.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of databendlabs/databend@288d84d76e (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/13eb47b6dcc6c470. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/meta/control/src/reading.rs:46

    lines: &mut Peekable<Lines<B>>,
) -> anyhow::Result<DataVersion> {
    #[allow(clippy::useless_conversion)]
    let first = lines
        .peek()
        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("no data found"))?;

    let first_line = match first {
        Ok(l) => l,
        Err(e) => {
            return Err(anyhow::anyhow!("{}", e));
        }
    };

    // First line is the data header that containing version.
    let version = read_version(first_line)?;

    if !DATA_VERSION.is_compatible(version) {
        return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
            "invalid data version: {:?}, This program version is {:?}; The latest compatible program version is: {:?}",
            version,
            DATA_VERSION,
            version.max_compatible_working_version(),
        ));
    }
    Ok(version)
}

pub fn read_version(first_line: &str) -> anyhow::Result<DataVersion> {
    let (tree_name, kv_entry): (String, RaftStoreEntry) = serde_json::from_str(first_line)?;

    let version = if tree_name == TREE_HEADER {
        // There is a explicit header.
        if let RaftStoreEntry::DataHeader { key, value } = &kv_entry {
            assert_eq!(key, "header", "The key can only be 'header'");
            value.0.version
        } else {

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