What causes "Cannot use GetSequence with managedDB=true." in dgraph-io/badger?

Use Open instead of OpenManaged if you need GetSequence

Cannot use GetSequence with managedDB=true.

Error message

Cannot use GetSequence with managedDB=true.

What it means

GetSequence is not supported on managed-database mode because badger manages transaction timestamps itself there, conflicting with sequence leases. Calling db.GetSequence while opt.managedTxns is true panics instead of returning an error.

Solutions

Use Open instead of OpenManaged if you need GetSequence
In managed mode, implement sequences via badger.Sequence alternatives: your own counter key in a transaction (read-modify-write)
Only call GetSequence when !db.opt.managedTxns

Example fix

// before
db, _ := badger.OpenManaged(opt)
seq, _ := db.GetSequence([]byte("k"), 100) // panics
// after
db, _ := badger.Open(opt) // non-managed
seq, _ := db.GetSequence([]byte("k"), 100)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if db.opt.managedTxns { return errors.New("GetSequence unavailable in managed mode") }

Try / catch

defer func() {
    if r := recover(); r != nil {
        if strings.Contains(fmt.Sprint(r), "GetSequence with managedDB") { /* fallback counter */ }
    }
}()

Prevention

Open with OpenManaged only when you manage timestamps
Centralize sequence creation and assert non-managed mode
In managed mode use your own txn-based counter key

When it happens

Trigger: Calling db.GetSequence(key, bandwidth) on a DB opened via OpenManaged (or Options with managed txn mode).

Common situations: Mixing OpenManaged (used with Dgraph or manual timestamp control) with application-level sequence generation.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/badger@2a001d466f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/868efd3d678ae5ba. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at db.go:1429

		var buf [8]byte
		binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(buf[:], lease)
		if err = txn.SetEntry(NewEntry(seq.key, buf[:])); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		seq.leased = lease
		return nil
	})
}

// GetSequence would initiate a new sequence object, generating it from the stored lease, if
// available, in the database. Sequence can be used to get a list of monotonically increasing
// integers. Multiple sequences can be created by providing different keys. Bandwidth sets the
// size of the lease, determining how many Next() requests can be served from memory.
//
// GetSequence is not supported on ManagedDB. Calling this would result in a panic.
func (db *DB) GetSequence(key []byte, bandwidth uint64) (*Sequence, error) {
	if db.opt.managedTxns {
		panic("Cannot use GetSequence with managedDB=true.")
	}
	if db.opt.ReadOnly {
		panic("Cannot use GetSequence in read-only mode.")
	}

	switch {
	case len(key) == 0:
		return nil, ErrEmptyKey
	case bandwidth == 0:
		return nil, ErrZeroBandwidth
	}
	seq := &Sequence{
		db:        db,
		key:       key,
		next:      0,
		leased:    0,
		bandwidth: bandwidth,
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2a001d466f)