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

CommitReadinessCheckInput.Validate requires ChannelID; the checkcommitreadiness command evaluates approval state per channel, so without -C/--channelID there is no channel to query. The error explicitly instructs the user to rerun with the -C flag. Raised before any proposal is sent to the peer.

Source

Thrown at internal/peer/lifecycle/chaincode/checkcommitreadiness.go:66

	Name                     string
	Version                  string
	PackageID                string
	Sequence                 int64
	EndorsementPlugin        string
	ValidationPlugin         string
	ValidationParameterBytes []byte
	CollectionConfigPackage  *pb.CollectionConfigPackage
	InitRequired             bool
	PeerAddresses            []string
	TxID                     string
	OutputFormat             string
	InspectionEnabled        bool
}

// Validate the input for a CheckCommitReadiness proposal
func (c *CommitReadinessCheckInput) Validate() error {
	if c.ChannelID == "" {
		return errors.New("The required parameter 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the command with -C flag")
	}

	if c.Name == "" {
		return errors.New("The required parameter 'name' is empty. Rerun the command with -n flag")
	}

	if c.Version == "" {
		return errors.New("The required parameter 'version' is empty. Rerun the command with -v flag")
	}

	if c.Sequence == 0 {
		return errors.New("The required parameter 'sequence' is empty. Rerun the command with --sequence flag")
	}

	return nil
}

// CheckCommitReadinessCmd returns the cobra command for the

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

Rerun with the channel flag: `peer lifecycle chaincode checkcommitreadiness --channelID mychannel --name mycc --version 1.0 --sequence 1`.
In Go, set Input.ChannelID before calling Validate()/ReadinessCheck.
In automation, validate that the channel variable is non-empty before invoking the command.

Example fix

// before
peer lifecycle chaincode checkcommitreadiness --name mycc --version 1.0 --sequence 1
// after
peer lifecycle chaincode checkcommitreadiness --channelID mychannel --name mycc --version 1.0 --sequence 1

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

input := chaincode.CheckCommitReadinessInput{}
if input.ChannelID == "" {
    return errors.New("-C/--channelID is required for checkcommitreadiness")
}
if err := input.Validate(); err != nil {
    return err
}

Try / catch

_, err := readinessCheck.ReadinessCheck(input)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "channelID") {
    return fmt.Errorf("supply channel via -C flag: %w", err)
}

Prevention

Standardize on passing -C explicitly in every lifecycle command, even when env defaults exist.
In multi-channel automation, assert the channel variable is non-empty before invoking.
Consider setting FABRIC_CFG_PATH/channel defaults only as a fallback, never the primary mechanism.

When it happens

Trigger: Running `peer lifecycle chaincode checkcommitreadiness` without --channelID/-C, or programmatically leaving CheckCommitReadinessInput.ChannelID as "" while calling Validate() via ReadinessCheck.

Common situations: Scripts parameterized over multiple channels where the channel variable is unset/empty; reusing command templates from other lifecycle subcommands where the flag was optional; env-driven automation losing the CHANNEL_NAME variable.

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

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d24fe97f553bde99. Report an issue: GitHub.