hasura/graphql-engine · error

error in applying metadata: %w

Error message

error in applying metadata: %w

What it means

After writing the new action to metadata, `hasura actions create` immediately applies metadata to the server by running MetadataApplyOptions.Run(); any failure from that apply (bad metadata, server rejection, connectivity) is wrapped with this message.

Source

Thrown at cli/commands/actions_create.go:114

	}

	// create new action
	o.EC.Spin("Creating the action...")
	actionCfg := actions.New(o.EC, o.EC.MetadataDir)
	o.EC.Spinner.Stop()

	err = actionCfg.Create(o.name, introSchema, o.deriveFrom)
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in creating action: %w", err))
	}

	opts := &MetadataApplyOptions{
		EC: o.EC,
	}

	err = opts.Run()
	if err != nil {
		return errors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in applying metadata: %w", err))
	}

	o.EC.Logger.WithField("name", o.name).Infoln("action created")

	// if codegen config not present, skip codegen
	if o.EC.Config.ActionConfig.Codegen.Framework == "" {
		if o.withCodegen {
			return errors.E(
				op,
				stderrors.New(`could not find codegen config. For adding codegen config, run:

  hasura actions use-codegen`),
			)
		}

		return nil
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped apply error — it usually contains the Hasura error path (e.g. 'action A: type T not found').
2. Fix the reported inconsistency in metadata/actions.yaml and types.yaml.
3. Re-run `hasura metadata apply` once the server-side conflict is resolved.
4. Verify endpoint/admin-secret and server connectivity at apply time.

hasura metadata export --endpoint $ENDPOINT --admin-secret $SECRET # proves apply path works

Catch the apply error; the file changes already succeeded, so fix the reported metadata inconsistency and run `hasura metadata apply` separately.

When it happens

Trigger: The freshly written metadata is rejected by the Hasura engine (invalid type definition, conflicting action name on the server), the server is unreachable mid-run, or the admin secret lacks permission to apply metadata.

Common situations: Metadata referencing types not defined in types.yaml, server already has a conflicting action, transient network drop between file write and apply, or running create against a production endpoint with restricted permissions.

Related errors

• error getting actions file content: %w
• error in creating action: %w
• cannot reload metadata: %w
• cannot export metadata from server: %w
• cue extraction error: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c12654803634117e. Report an issue: GitHub.