hasura/graphql-engine · error

no connected databases found in the server

Error message

no connected databases found in the server

What it means

DatabaseChooserUI returns this when the metadata parsed successfully but the sources list is empty — the Hasura instance has no connected databases to offer in the select prompt. It is a user-facing interactive-flow error, not a parse failure.

Source

Thrown at cli/internal/metadatautil/sources.go:159

	}

	if len(sources) == 0 {
		return nil, internalerrors.E(op, ErrNoConnectedSources)
	}

	return sources, nil
}

func DatabaseChooserUI(exportMetadata func() (io.Reader, error)) (string, error) {
	var op internalerrors.Op = "metadatautil.DatabaseChooserUI"

	sources, err := GetSources(exportMetadata)
	if err != nil {
		return "", internalerrors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("unable to get available databases: %w", err))
	}

	if len(sources) == 0 {
		return "", internalerrors.E(op, errors.New("no connected databases found in the server"))
	}

	databaseName, err := util.GetSelectPrompt("Select a database to use", sources)
	if err != nil {
		return "", internalerrors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("error in selecting a database to use: %w", err))
	}

	return databaseName, nil
}

const ChooseAllDatabases = "All (all available databases)"

func DatabaseChooserUIWithAll(exportMetadata func() (io.Reader, error)) (string, error) {
	var op internalerrors.Op = "metadatautil.DatabaseChooserUIWithAll"

	sources, err := GetSources(exportMetadata)
	if err != nil {
		return "", internalerrors.E(op, fmt.Errorf("unable to get available databases: %w", err))

View on GitHub (pinned to 724551b9ae)

Solutions

1. Connect a database to the Hasura instance (hasura db add / console)
2. Verify HASURA_GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT and admin secret target the intended instance
3. If expecting sources, export metadata and confirm the sources array is populated

Example fix

// before
db, err := metadatautil.DatabaseChooserUI(exportMetadata)
if err != nil { return err }

// after
db, err := metadatautil.DatabaseChooserUI(exportMetadata)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no connected databases") {
    return fmt.Errorf("connect a database first (hasura db add), then re-run")
}
if err != nil { return err }

sources, err := metadatautil.GetSources(exportMetadata)
if err == nil && len(sources) == 0 {
    // skip chooser, tell user to connect a database
}

if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no connected databases") {
    // friendly guidance
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running any command that triggers the database selection prompt against a Hasura server with zero connected sources. The prompt cannot be shown because there is nothing to select.

Common situations: New/fresh Hasura instance before any database is added; wrong endpoint (querying an empty dev instance instead of the populated one); sources removed during cleanup.

Related errors

• 0 connected sources found on hasura
• unable to get available databases: %w
• error in selecting a database to use: %w
• error in getting user input: %w
• error in selecting framework: %w

AI-assisted analysis of hasura/graphql-engine@724551b9ae (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/052425b9cd86b50c. Report an issue: GitHub.