hyperledger/fabric · error

service stream returned with invalid response type

Error message

service stream returned with invalid response type

What it means

BuildStepRespone only knows how to map a response whose payload is TranorderRes. If the ClusterNodeServiceStepResponse carries none of the recognized payload types, the conversion is impossible and this error is returned.

Source

Thrown at orderer/common/cluster/commauth.go:342

	return nil, errors.New("service message type not valid")
}

func BuildStepRespone(stepResponse *orderer.ClusterNodeServiceStepResponse) (*orderer.StepResponse, error) {
	if stepResponse == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("input response object is nil")
	}
	if respPayload := stepResponse.GetTranorderRes(); respPayload != nil {
		stepResponse := &orderer.StepResponse{
			Payload: &orderer.StepResponse_SubmitRes{
				SubmitRes: &orderer.SubmitResponse{
					Channel: respPayload.Channel,
					Status:  respPayload.Status,
				},
			},
		}
		return stepResponse, nil
	}
	return nil, errors.New("service stream returned with invalid response type")
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Ensure all cluster nodes run a compatible fabric version so responses use the TranorderRes payload
2. Log/inspect the raw response type to identify which variant was returned
3. Return a typed error upstream so Recv can retry against a different node

if stepResponse != nil && stepResponse.GetTranorderRes() == nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("unsupported step response payload type")
}

func isTranorderRes(r *orderer.ClusterNodeServiceStepResponse) bool {
    return r != nil && r.GetTranorderRes() != nil
}

resp, err := BuildStepRespone(stepResponse)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("cannot convert node response: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling BuildStepRespone with a response whose GetTranorderRes() returns nil — e.g. the peer sent a status-only or unrecognized response variant on the cluster Step stream.

Common situations: Mixed-version fabric nodes where the remote orderer responds with a payload type this node doesn't understand; a misrouted request hitting a node that answers with a non-TranorderRes message.

Related errors

• invalid request object
• Message is neither a Submit nor Consensus request
• input response object is nil
• message is neither a Submit nor a Consensus request
• First message needs to be a register

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/67e20ed09830524f. Report an issue: GitHub.