googleapis/mcp-toolbox · error

failed to delete instance: %w

Error message

failed to delete instance: %w

What it means

This error is a wrapper raised by the Bigtable source's DeleteInstance method when the underlying InstanceAdmin.DeleteInstance call to the Cloud Bigtable Admin API fails. The original gRPC/googleapi error is preserved via %w, so callers can unwrap it with errors.As/Is to inspect codes like NotFound or PermissionDenied. It simply means the admin API rejected or failed the delete request for the given instance.

Source

Thrown at internal/sources/bigtable/admin_wrappers.go:64

	return map[string]string{"status": "instance created successfully"}, nil
}

func (s *Source) UpdateInstance(ctx context.Context, instanceId, displayName string) (any, error) {
	conf := &bigtable.InstanceWithClustersConfig{
		InstanceID:  instanceId,
		DisplayName: displayName,
	}
	err := s.InstanceAdmin.UpdateInstanceWithClusters(ctx, conf)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to update instance: %w", err)
	}
	return map[string]string{"status": "instance updated successfully"}, nil
}

func (s *Source) DeleteInstance(ctx context.Context, instanceId string) (any, error) {
	err := s.InstanceAdmin.DeleteInstance(ctx, instanceId)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete instance: %w", err)
	}
	return map[string]string{"status": "instance deleted successfully"}, nil
}

func (s *Source) ListInstances(ctx context.Context) (any, error) {
	instances, err := s.InstanceAdmin.Instances(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		var partialErr bigtable.ErrPartiallyUnavailable
		if errors.As(err, &partialErr) {
			return instances, nil
		}
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to list instances: %w", err)
	}
	return instances, nil
}

func (s *Source) GetCluster(ctx context.Context, instanceId, clusterId string) (any, error) {
	cluster, err := s.InstanceAdmin.GetCluster(ctx, instanceId, clusterId)

View on GitHub (pinned to 8cc6e09de2)

Solutions

1. Verify the instance ID exists first with ListInstances or `gcloud bigtable instances list`.
2. Check IAM: grant the caller the roles/bigtable.admin (or bigtable.instances.delete) role on the project.
3. Confirm the correct project is configured (BIGTABLE_PROJECT_ID / client project option).
4. Unwrap the error with errors.As(*googleapi.Error) or status.FromError and branch on its code; retry only on transient codes (Unavailable, DeadlineExceeded).

Example fix

// before
if err != nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete instance: %w", err)
}
// after
if err != nil {
    if st, ok := status.FromError(err); ok && st.Code() == codes.NotFound {
        return map[string]string{"status": "instance already deleted"}, nil
    }
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete instance: %w", err)
}

// before calling DeleteInstance
instances, _ := src.ListInstances(ctx)
for _, in := range instances.([]*bigtable.Instance) {
    if in.Name == instanceId {
        exists = true
    }
}
if !exists {
    return // skip delete; instance already gone
}

func isNotFound(err error) bool {
    var ge *googleapi.Error
    if errors.As(err, &ge) {
        return ge.Code == 404
    }
    if st, ok := status.FromError(errors.Unwrap(err)); ok {
        return st.Code() == codes.NotFound
    }
    return false
}

if _, err := src.DeleteInstance(ctx, id); err != nil {
    var wrapped *fmt.WrapError // or just unwrap generically
    if isNotFound(err) {
        log.Printf("instance %s already deleted", id)
        return
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("delete instance %s: %w", id, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DeleteInstance(ctx, instanceId) when the instance does not exist (NotFound), the credentials/service account lack bigtable.instances.delete IAM permission (PermissionDenied), the instance is already being deleted, or transient gRPC/network failures interrupt the admin RPC.

Common situations: Typos or stale instance IDs after an instance was removed out-of-band; running with Application Default Credentials from an account missing the Bigtable Admin role; attempting deletion in the wrong project (misconfigured project env var); duplicate delete attempts in automation scripts.

Related errors

• failed to list instances: %w
• failed to get cluster: %w
• failed to list clusters: %w
• failed to create cluster: %w
• failed to update cluster: %w

AI-assisted analysis of googleapis/mcp-toolbox@8cc6e09de2 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9a7a5ef47fd227ae. Report an issue: GitHub.