hyperledger/fabric · error

unknown channel '%s'

Error message

unknown channel '%s'

What it means

ChaincodeInfo throws this when the cache has no entry for the requested channelID in definedChaincodes. The cache only learns channels via Initialize/SetChaincodesMapForUninitializedChannels, so a channel that was never initialized (or unknown channel ID) yields 'unknown channel'.

Source

Thrown at core/chaincode/lifecycle/cache.go:355

// ChaincodeInfo returns the chaincode definition and its install info.
// An error is returned only if either the channel or the chaincode do not exist.
func (c *Cache) ChaincodeInfo(channelID, name string) (*LocalChaincodeInfo, error) {
	if name == LifecycleNamespace {
		ac, ok := c.Resources.ChannelConfigSource.GetStableChannelConfig(channelID).ApplicationConfig()
		if !ok {
			return nil, errors.Errorf("application config does not exist for channel '%s'", channelID)
		}
		if !ac.Capabilities().LifecycleV20() {
			return nil, errors.Errorf("cannot use _lifecycle without V2_0 application capabilities enabled for channel '%s'", channelID)
		}
		return c.getLifecycleSCCChaincodeInfo(channelID)
	}

	c.mutex.RLock()
	defer c.mutex.RUnlock()
	channelChaincodes, ok := c.definedChaincodes[channelID]
	if !ok {
		return nil, errors.Errorf("unknown channel '%s'", channelID)
	}

	cachedChaincode, ok := channelChaincodes.Chaincodes[name]
	if !ok {
		return nil, errors.Errorf("unknown chaincode '%s' for channel '%s'", name, channelID)
	}

	return &LocalChaincodeInfo{
		Definition:  cachedChaincode.Definition,
		InstallInfo: cachedChaincode.InstallInfo,
		Approved:    cachedChaincode.Approved,
	}, nil
}

func (c *Cache) getLifecycleSCCChaincodeInfo(channelID string) (*LocalChaincodeInfo, error) {
	policyBytes, err := c.Resources.LifecycleEndorsementPolicyAsBytes(channelID)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Verify the peer has joined the channel ('peer channel list') and the channelID spelling is exact.
2. Ensure Cache.Initialize(channelID, queryExecutor) or SetChaincodesMapForUninitializedChannels ran before querying.
3. Re-check that channel initialization completed (peer channel initialization, INITIALIZE channel ledger).
4. If the channel is genuinely absent, treat this as an expected 'not found' and handle it, not as a retryable fault.

Example fix

// before
info, err := cache.ChaincodeInfo(channelID, name)
// after
if _, joined := joinedChannels[channelID]; !joined {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("skip: peer not joined to %s", channelID)
}
info, err := cache.ChaincodeInfo(channelID, name)

joined, _ := stub.GetChannels() // or peer channel list
if !containsChannel(joined, channelID) {
    return fmt.Errorf("peer not joined to channel %s", channelID)
}

info, err := cache.ChaincodeInfo(channelID, name)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unknown channel") {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("channel %s not initialized in cache: %w", channelID, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ChaincodeInfo with a channelID never initialized in the cache — e.g. peer has not joined the channel, or the cache was constructed but RegisterListener/InitializeMetadata was never run for that channel.

Common situations: Typo'd channel name; peer joined the channel after callers started querying; cache created before channel initialization completed; querying a channel the peer is not a member of.

Related errors

• too few arguments
• chaincode type not supported: %s
• incorrect number of arguments
• failed to copy metadataDir directory folder: %s
• connection.json not found in source folder: %s

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2dd4ffd4c25141de. Report an issue: GitHub.