gofiber/fiber · error

context canceled while starting service %s: %w

Error message

context canceled while starting service %s: %w

What it means

Returned by startServices (services.go:94) when the startup context is already canceled/deadline-exceeded just before a service's Start is about to be called. Fiber wraps ctx.Err() so the caller sees which service was pending and the exact context error (Canceled or DeadlineExceeded).

Source

Thrown at services.go:94

	return context.Background()
}

// startServices Handles the start process of services for the current application.
// Iterates over all configured services and tries to start them, returning an error if any error occurs.
func (app *App) startServices(ctx context.Context) error {
	if !app.hasConfiguredServices() {
		return nil
	}

	var errs []error
	for idx, srv := range app.configured.Services {
		if srv == nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("fiber: service at index %d is nil", idx)
		}
		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
			// Context is canceled, return an error the soonest possible, so that
			// the user can see the context cancellation error and act on it.
			return fmt.Errorf("context canceled while starting service %s: %w", srv.String(), err)
		}

		err := srv.Start(ctx)
		if err == nil {
			// mark the service as started
			app.state.setService(srv)
			continue
		}

		if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
			return fmt.Errorf("service %s start: %w", srv.String(), err)
		}

		errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("service %s start: %w", srv.String(), err))
	}
	return errors.Join(errs...)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 9a4c7e57fe)

Solutions

1. Lengthen or remove the startup deadline in ServicesStartupContextProvider so services can finish initializing.
2. Defer cancel() of your startup context until after app.startServices completes.
3. Make Service.Start return faster (lazy-connect, background reconnect) so it fits within the deadline.
4. On shutdown, ensure the startup ctx is not canceled until Listen has fully started services.

Example fix

// before: deadline too short
StartupCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 500*time.Millisecond)
cfg.ServicesStartupContextProvider = func() context.Context { return StartupCtx }

// after: adequate deadline + only cancel on real shutdown
StartupCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
cfg.ServicesStartupContextProvider = func() context.Context { return StartupCtx }
defer cancel()

startupCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
defer cancel()
cfg.ServicesStartupContextProvider = func() context.Context { return startupCtx }

if err := app.startServices(startupCtx); err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
        // startup aborted — retry with a longer deadline or fail gracefully
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Setting Config.ServicesStartupContextProvider to return a context tied to a shutting-down parent, or canceling the startup context (e.g. via SIGINT during boot) before all services have started. The per-iteration ctx.Err() check at services.go:91 catches it.

Common situations: Graceful shutdown signaling during slow boot (e.g. Kubernetes liveness probe failing and the orchestrator sending SIGTERM), a startup deadline that is too short for DB connection warmup, or a parent context canceled by an earlier failed dependency.

Related errors

• service %s start: %w
• service %s terminate: %w
• memory storage %s: %w
• fiber: service at index %d is nil
• log: context tag name and function are required

AI-assisted analysis of gofiber/fiber@9a4c7e57fe (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/0aa7db9159cf3af3.json. Report an issue: GitHub.