hyperledger/fabric · error

The required parameter 'version' is empty. Rerun the command

Error message

The required parameter 'version' is empty. Rerun the command with -v flag

What it means

Input validation guard in CommitInput.Validate for the `peer lifecycle chaincode commit` CLI: it rejects the commit definition proposal when the chaincode version is an empty string, i.e. the user omitted the required -v flag. The command aborts locally before any proposal is created or sent.

Source

Thrown at internal/peer/lifecycle/chaincode/commit.go:71

	InitRequired             bool
	PeerAddresses            []string
	WaitForEvent             bool
	WaitForEventTimeout      time.Duration
	TxID                     string
}

// Validate the input for a CommitChaincodeDefinition proposal
func (c *CommitInput) 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
}

// CommitCmd returns the cobra command for chaincode Commit
func CommitCmd(c *Committer, cryptoProvider bccsp.BCCSP) *cobra.Command {
	chaincodeCommitCmd := &cobra.Command{
		Use:   "commit",
		Short: "Commit the chaincode definition on the channel.",
		Long:  "Commit the chaincode definition on the channel.",
		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
			if c == nil {
				// set input from CLI flags

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Rerun with -v, e.g. -v 1.0, matching the approved definition.
2. Check the approved definition (peer lifecycle chaincode queryapproved) to get the correct version string.
3. Fix scripts that pass an empty version variable.
4. In code, set CommitInput.Version before calling Commit.

Example fix

// before
peer lifecycle chaincode commit -C mychannel -n mycc --sequence 1
// after
peer lifecycle chaincode commit -C mychannel -n mycc -v 1.0 --sequence 1

if version == "" {
    return errors.New("chaincode version required: use -v flag")
}

func hasVersion(c *CommitInput) bool { return c != nil && c.Version != "" }

if err := run(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "parameter 'version' is empty") {
        // re-run with -v from queryapproved output
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing CommitInput with Version == "" and calling Validate — e.g. `peer lifecycle chaincode commit` run without the -v flag.

Common situations: Omitting -v when committing; using an empty variable in a script; assuming version is inherited from the approve step (it is not for commit input validation).

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 'channelID' is empty. Rerun the comma
• The required parameter 'name' is empty. Rerun the command wi
• The required parameter 'sequence' is empty. Rerun the comman
• invalid policy name during channelless check policy. Name mu
• no signed data during channelless check policy with policy [

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/565f12690b4feb5c. Report an issue: GitHub.