dgraph-io/badger · error

MANIFEST invalid, table %d exists

Error message

MANIFEST invalid, table %d exists

What it means

Returned by applyManifestChange while replaying or applying a ManifestChange of op CREATE: the table ID being created already exists in the in-memory Tables map. A valid MANIFEST never creates the same table ID twice, so encountering a duplicate CREATE means the change log is internally inconsistent — either file corruption or a replay of stale changes — and Badger aborts opening rather than build a corrupt LSM view.

Source

Thrown at manifest.go:433

		var changeSet pb.ManifestChangeSet
		if err := proto.Unmarshal(buf, &changeSet); err != nil {
			return Manifest{}, 0, err
		}

		if err := applyChangeSet(&build, &changeSet, opt); err != nil {
			return Manifest{}, 0, err
		}
	}

	return build, offset, nil
}

func applyManifestChange(build *Manifest, tc *pb.ManifestChange, opt Options) error {
	switch tc.Op {
	case pb.ManifestChange_CREATE:
		if _, ok := build.Tables[tc.Id]; ok {
			return fmt.Errorf("MANIFEST invalid, table %d exists", tc.Id)
		}
		build.Tables[tc.Id] = TableManifest{
			Level:       uint8(tc.Level),
			KeyID:       tc.KeyId,
			Compression: options.CompressionType(tc.Compression),
		}
		for len(build.Levels) <= int(tc.Level) {
			build.Levels = append(build.Levels, levelManifest{make(map[uint64]struct{})})
		}
		build.Levels[tc.Level].Tables[tc.Id] = struct{}{}
		build.Creations++
	case pb.ManifestChange_DELETE:
		tm, ok := build.Tables[tc.Id]
		if !ok {
			opt.Warningf("MANIFEST delete: table %d has already been removed", tc.Id)
			for _, level := range build.Levels {
				delete(level.Tables, tc.Id)
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2a001d466f)

Solutions

1. Restore the MANIFEST (and the database directory) from a known-good backup
2. If the duplicate entry is in a trailing corrupt block, truncate the MANIFEST at the previous valid change set per the troubleshooting guide
3. Verify disk health, as duplicated change records typically stem from corruption or torn writes
4. Otherwise drop the directory and rebuild the database from an export/backup

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at manifest.go:433 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/badger@2a001d466f (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed6951a30c3f578e. Report an issue: GitHub.