influxdata/influxdb · error · Error

Client specified an invalid argument

Error message

Client specified an invalid argument: {0}

What it means

The `Error::InvalidArgument` variant, wrapping a boxed `ServerError<FieldViolation>`. It is raised when the server rejected the request because one or more request fields failed validation, mirroring gRPC's INVALID_ARGUMENT status with per-field violation details.

Solutions

1. Read the FieldViolation(s) in the wrapped payload — they name the offending field and its problem.
2. Fix the identified request field (name, format, or value) and re-issue the request.
3. Validate inputs client-side before sending (non-empty identifiers, valid SQL).
4. Confirm the request struct matches the server's expected proto/API version.

Example fix

// before
client.create_table("", partition_template).await?;
// after
let name = "my_table";
assert!(!name.is_empty(), "table name must be non-empty");
client.create_table(name, partition_template).await?;

fn validate_request(table: &str, sql: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
    if table.is_empty() { return Err("table name must be non-empty".into()); }
    if sql.trim().is_empty() { return Err("sql must be non-empty".into()); }
    Ok(())
}

match result {
    Err(Error::InvalidArgument(se)) => {
        for v in se.violations() { eprintln!("field {}: {}", v.field, v.description); }
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any client API call (e.g. creating a table, writing a namespace, issuing a query) where a field value is malformed: empty identifiers, invalid SQL, bad partition template, out-of-range field values — the server responds INVALID_ARGUMENT with FieldViolation entries.

Common situations: Typos in table or column names, empty strings where identifiers are required, invalid SQL passed to query APIs, requests built against a different API schema version than the server expects.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Operation was attempted past the valid range
• {0}
• At least one field is required
• database name error
• Deadline expired before operation could complete

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ba0b7fcb6d5d372b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/influxdb_iox_client/src/client/error.rs:72

}

impl ServerErrorDetails for PreconditionViolation {
    fn try_decode(status: &Status) -> Option<Self> {
        generated_types::google::decode_precondition_violation(status).next()
    }
}

/// The errors returned by this client
#[derive(Error, Debug)]
#[expect(missing_docs)]
pub enum Error {
    #[error("The operation was cancelled: {0}")]
    Cancelled(ServerError<()>),

    #[error("Unknown server error: {0}")]
    Unknown(ServerError<()>),

    #[error("Client specified an invalid argument: {0}")]
    InvalidArgument(Box<ServerError<FieldViolation>>),

    #[error("Deadline expired before operation could complete: {0}")]
    DeadlineExceeded(ServerError<()>),

    #[error("{0}")]
    NotFound(Box<ServerError<NotFound>>),

    #[error("Some entity that we attempted to create already exists: {0}")]
    AlreadyExists(Box<ServerError<AlreadyExists>>),

    #[error("The caller does not have permission to execute the specified operation: {0}")]
    PermissionDenied(ServerError<()>),

    #[error("Some resource has been exhausted: {0}")]
    ResourceExhausted(ServerError<()>),

    #[error("The system is not in a state required for the operation's execution: {0}")]

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