dgraph-io/dgraph · error

while parsing predicate got: %q

Error message

while parsing predicate got: %q

What it means

upgradeManifest migrates a manifest written by an older Dgraph version (case 2103, i.e. v21.03) to the current schema. ACL predicate strings in m.Groups must be converted via x.AttrFrom2103; this error is thrown when a predicate stored in the 21.03 format cannot be parsed/converted.

Source

Thrown at worker/backup_manifest.go:189

			m.Groups[gid] = parsedPreds
		}
		for _, op := range m.DropOperations {
			switch op.DropOp {
			case pb.DropOperation_DATA:
				op.DropValue = fmt.Sprintf("%#x", x.RootNamespace)
			case pb.DropOperation_ATTR:
				op.DropValue = x.AttrInRootNamespace(op.DropValue)
			default:
				// do nothing for drop all and drop namespace.
			}
		}
	case 2103:
		for gid, preds := range m.Groups {
			parsedPreds := preds[:0]
			for _, pred := range preds {
				ns_attr, err := x.AttrFrom2103(pred)
				if err != nil {
					return errors.Errorf("while parsing predicate got: %q", err)
				}
				parsedPreds = append(parsedPreds, ns_attr)
			}
			m.Groups[gid] = parsedPreds
		}
		for _, op := range m.DropOperations {
			// We have a cluster wide drop data in v21.03.
			if op.DropOp == pb.DropOperation_ATTR {
				ns_attr, err := x.AttrFrom2103(op.DropValue)
				if err != nil {
					return errors.Errorf("while parsing the drop operation %+v got: %q",
						op, err)
				}
				op.DropValue = ns_attr
			}
		}
	case 2105:
		// pass

View on GitHub (pinned to 759e242be6)

Solutions

1. Inspect the manifest's Groups predicates and fix or remove malformed entries.
2. Upgrade through intermediate Dgraph versions so manifests are converted stepwise.
3. Take a fresh backup with the new version instead of reusing the old manifest.
4. Restore ACL data and re-export a backup with the current version.

Example fix

// before: hand-edited predicate in manifest
"Groups": {"1": ["dgraph.x.unknown"]}
// after: use predicates created by the 21.03 format or regenerate via backup
dgraph backup --dst s3://bucket/new-backup

if m.Version == 2103 {
    for gid, preds := range m.Groups {
        for _, p := range preds {
            if _, err := x.AttrFrom2103(p); err != nil {
                return fmt.Errorf("group %s has unparsable predicate %q: %v", gid, p, err)
            }
        }
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: GetManifest loads a manifest whose version field is 2103 and a group's ACL predicate string cannot be converted by AttrFrom2103 — e.g. manifest written by an even older version, hand-edited predicate, or corrupt ACL data in the manifest.

Common situations: Upgrading a cluster across several versions (e.g. v20.x -> v23.x) skipping intermediate supported upgrade paths; manually edited manifests; ACL rules created under an incompatible format.

Related errors

• while parsing the drop operation %+v got: %q
• error querying old ACL rules: %w
• unable to parse ACLs: %v
• unable to unmarshal ACL: %v :: %w
• error upgrading ACL rules: %w

AI-assisted analysis of dgraph-io/dgraph@759e242be6 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5965100c0a2d705b. Report an issue: GitHub.