could not fetch approved chaincode definition (name: '%s', s

Error message

could not fetch approved chaincode definition (name: '%s', sequence: '%d') on channel '%s'

What it means

QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinition looked in the org's private (org-scoped) state for the approved definition at the requested name and sequence, and found no metadata entry — i.e., this org has not approved that chaincode at that sequence on that channel.

Source

Thrown at core/chaincode/lifecycle/lifecycle.go:582

		privateName := fmt.Sprintf("%s#%d", ccname, nextSequence)
		_, ok, err := ef.Resources.Serializer.DeserializeMetadata(NamespacesName, privateName, orgState)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, errors.WithMessagef(err, "could not deserialize namespace metadata for next sequence %d", nextSequence)
		}
		if ok {
			requestedSequence = nextSequence
		}
	}

	logger.Infof("Attempting to fetch approved definition (name: '%s', sequence: '%d') on channel '%s'", ccname, requestedSequence, chname)
	privateName := fmt.Sprintf("%s#%d", ccname, requestedSequence)
	metadata, ok, err := ef.Resources.Serializer.DeserializeMetadata(NamespacesName, privateName, orgState)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, errors.WithMessagef(err, "could not deserialize namespace metadata for %s", privateName)
	}

	if !ok {
		return nil, errors.Errorf("could not fetch approved chaincode definition (name: '%s', sequence: '%d') on channel '%s'", ccname, requestedSequence, chname)
	}

	return ef.fetchApprovedChaincodeDefinition(ccname, requestedSequence, metadata, orgState)
}

// QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinitions returns all approved chaincode definitions in Org state for the specified channel.
// The return value is a map where the key is a combination of chaincode namespace and sequence number in the format "<namespace>#<sequence_number>",
// and the value is the corresponding ApprovedChaincodeDefinition object.
func (ef *ExternalFunctions) QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinitions(chname string, orgState ReadRangeableState) (map[string]*ApprovedChaincodeDefinition, error) {
	// Get all metadatas for the channel
	metadatas, err := ef.Resources.Serializer.DeserializeAllMetadata(NamespacesName, orgState)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, errors.WithMessage(err, "could not fetch metadatas")
	}

	// Get all approved chaincode definitions using the metadatas
	definitions := map[string]*ApprovedChaincodeDefinition{}
	for privateName, metadata := range metadatas {

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

Confirm the sequence number matches what was approved (querycommitted / checkcommitreadiness)
Run the query on a peer belonging to the org that performed the approval
Verify chaincode name and channel name spelling; if not yet approved, run approveformyorg first

Example fix

// before
queryApproved("mycc", seq=3) // org approved seq 2 only
// after
queryApproved("mycc", seq=2) // match the approved sequence

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Confirm this org approved the exact sequence before querying
approved, err := orgApprovedSequences(ch, ccname) // from org private state / checkcommitreadiness
if !contains(approved, requestedSequence) {
    return fmt.Errorf("org has no approved definition for %s seq %d; run approveformyorg first", ccname, requestedSequence)
}

Try / catch

def, err := ef.QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinition(ch, ccname, myOrg, seq)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "could not fetch approved chaincode definition") {
    // run approveformyorg at that sequence, or correct the sequence/name
}

Prevention

Query on a peer of the org that executed the approval
Wait for the approve transaction to commit before querying
Keep sequence numbers in shared deployment state to avoid mismatches

When it happens

Trigger: Calling QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinition with a sequence the org never approved, a chaincode name typo, querying on a peer whose org has not approved, or querying before approval completed.

Common situations: Operators checking the wrong org's peer; querying with the wrong --sequence; race between approve transaction commit and the query; channel name mismatch.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa9e5cc745ec0e8e. Report an issue: GitHub.