hyperledger/fabric · error

The required parameter 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the comma

Error message

The required parameter 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the command with -C flag

What it means

ApprovedQuerier.validateInput rejects the command when Input.ChannelID is empty. The query is channel-scoped, so without a channel the peer cannot resolve approved chaincode definitions. The message tells the user to re-run with the -C flag.

Source

Thrown at internal/peer/lifecycle/chaincode/queryapproved.go:205

	GetSource() *lb.ChaincodeSource
}

func (a *ApprovedQuerier) printSingleApprovedChaincodeDefinition(acd ApprovedChaincodeDefinition) {
	var packageID string
	if acd.GetSource() != nil {
		switch source := acd.GetSource().Type.(type) {
		case *lb.ChaincodeSource_LocalPackage:
			packageID = source.LocalPackage.PackageId
		case *lb.ChaincodeSource_Unavailable_:
		}
	}
	fmt.Fprintf(a.Writer, "sequence: %d, version: %s, init-required: %t, package-id: %s, endorsement plugin: %s, validation plugin: %s",
		acd.GetSequence(), acd.GetVersion(), acd.GetInitRequired(), packageID, acd.GetEndorsementPlugin(), acd.GetValidationPlugin())
}

func (a *ApprovedQuerier) validateInput() error {
	if a.Input.ChannelID == "" {
		return errors.New("The required parameter 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the command with -C flag")
	}
	if a.Input.Name == "" && a.Input.Sequence != 0 {
		return errors.New("Specifying parameter 'sequence' is invalid without parameter 'name'. Rerun the command with -n flag")
	}

	return nil
}

func (a *ApprovedQuerier) createProposal() (*pb.Proposal, error) {
	var function string
	var args proto.Message

	if a.Input.Name != "" {
		function = "QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinition"
		args = &lb.QueryApprovedChaincodeDefinitionArgs{
			Name:     a.Input.Name,
			Sequence: a.Input.Sequence,
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Re-run the command with the -C (or --channelID) flag, e.g. `peer lifecycle chaincode queryapproved -C mychannel`
2. When using the Go client, set Input.ChannelID before calling Query
3. Add a shell/config check that supplies the channel name from your deployment configuration

Example fix

// before
peer lifecycle chaincode queryapproved -n mycc
// after
peer lifecycle chaincode queryapproved -C mychannel -n mycc

if channelID == "" {
	return errors.New("The required parameter 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the command with -C flag")
}

if err := q.Query(); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "channelID") {
		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Usage: add -C <channelID>")
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `peer lifecycle chaincode queryapproved` (or calling QueryApproved.Query) without specifying ChannelID / -C flag.

Common situations: Scripting the CLI and omitting the -C flag, environment variables/config providing only the chaincode name, or programmatically constructing the Input struct and forgetting to set ChannelID.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• The required parameter 'name' is empty. Rerun the command wi
• The required parameter 'version' is empty. Rerun the command
• The required parameter 'sequence' is empty. Rerun the comman
• Specifying parameter 'sequence' is invalid without parameter
• error encode input

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7d6097d915832729. Report an issue: GitHub.