elsa-workflows/elsa-core · error · InvalidOperationException

Storage unit ' ' was not declared by schema ' '.

Error message

Storage unit '{policy.StorageUnit}' was not declared by schema '{schema.Name}'.

What it means

PhysicalizationPolicyValidator.GetStorageUnit looks up policy.StorageUnit by exact name in schema.StorageUnits. If no declared storage unit matches, it throws, because a physicalization policy can only target a storage unit the schema explicitly declares.

Solutions

Set policy.StorageUnit to the exact Name of a storage unit declared in the schema.
Update the schema to declare the storage unit referenced by the policy.
Regenerate/align policy configuration with the current schema definitions after renames.

Example fix

// before
policy.StorageUnit = "WorkflowInstance"; // schema declares "WorkflowInstances"
// after
policy.StorageUnit = "WorkflowInstances";

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (!schema.StorageUnits.Any(u => u.Name == policy.StorageUnit))
    throw new InvalidOperationException($"Storage unit '{policy.StorageUnit}' is not declared by schema '{schema.Name}'.");

Try / catch

try { var unit = PhysicalizationPolicyValidator.GetStorageUnit(schema, policy); }
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("was not declared by schema")) { /* fix policy or schema */ }

Prevention

Reference storage unit names from constants shared with the schema builder.
Regenerate policies whenever schema names change.
Keep policy config and schema in the same repo/commit.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GetStorageUnit (directly or via SqlitePhysicalizationPlanner.Plan) with a StoragePhysicalizationPolicy whose StorageUnit name does not match any storage unit name in the schema — typos, renamed units, or policies copied from another schema.

Common situations: Renaming a table in the schema builder without updating physicalization policies; policy defined in a separate config file drifting from code-defined schema; case sensitivity mismatches (comparison is exact).

Understand the failure class

Background: "Not found" and "does not exist" errors: why "Task not found", "No such folder", and "Can't find" fire when a lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 14 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of elsa-workflows/elsa-core@fe9217bdfa (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/385f2344330c9db4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/modules/Elsa.Persistence.VNext/Physicalization/PhysicalizationPolicyValidator.cs:12

using Elsa.Persistence.VNext;

namespace Elsa.Persistence.VNext.Physicalization;

public static class PhysicalizationPolicyValidator
{
    public static PersistenceStorageUnit GetStorageUnit(PersistenceSchema schema, StoragePhysicalizationPolicy policy)
    {
        var storageUnit = schema.StorageUnits.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Name == policy.StorageUnit);

        if (storageUnit == null)
            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Storage unit '{policy.StorageUnit}' was not declared by schema '{schema.Name}'.");

        var fields = storageUnit.Fields.Select(x => x.Name).ToHashSet(StringComparer.Ordinal);

        foreach (var index in policy.Indexes)
        {
            var missingField = index.Fields.FirstOrDefault(field => !fields.Contains(field));

            if (missingField != null)
                throw new InvalidOperationException($"Physicalized index '{index.Name}' references undeclared field '{missingField}' on storage unit '{storageUnit.Name}'.");
        }

        return storageUnit;
    }
}

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