influxdata/influxdb · critical · Error

corrupt load state

Error message

corrupt load state: {0}

What it means

This error signals that state loaded from persisted storage is corrupt or in an unexpected shape when the write buffer initializes. The String payload describes what was corrupt. It is thrown to avoid silently operating on malformed persisted data, which could lead to data loss or panics later.

Solutions

1. Read the payload String to identify which load state is corrupt
2. Restore the affected persisted data from backup/snapshot
3. Do not downgrade influxdb3 below the version that wrote the persisted state
4. If data is disposable, clear the affected persisted state and reinitialize

Example fix

// before: blindly restarting corrupt instance in a loop
loop { if let Err(e) = load_buffer() { warn!("{e}"); continue; } }
// after: fail fast and require operator intervention
if let Err(WriteBufferError::CorruptLoadState(msg)) = load_buffer() {
    eprintln!("FATAL corrupt persisted state: {msg} - restore from backup");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

// at startup, fail fast before serving traffic
if let Err(WriteBufferError::CorruptLoadState(msg)) = buffer.load().await {
    eprintln!("FATAL: corrupt persisted state: {msg}");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

match load_result {
    Err(WriteBufferError::CorruptLoadState(msg)) => {
        alert_operator(&msg); // require restore-from-backup, never auto-restart loop
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Start-up or load path of the write buffer: deserializing persisted buffer/catalog state from object storage, reading snapshot or WAL-replay data that does not match the expected in-memory structures.

Common situations: Manual edits or partial writes to persisted files; influxdb3 version downgrade reading state written by a newer version; interrupted writes to object storage leaving truncated data; storage corruption.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

• {0}
• error from persister
• Failed to deserialize table index snapshot
• invalid record length
• payload CRC32 mismatch: expected

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6e341777a2c805cf. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_write/src/write_buffer/mod.rs:89

    ParseError(WriteLineError),

    #[error("incoming write was empty")]
    EmptyWrite,

    #[error("column type mismatch for column {name}: existing: {existing:?}, new: {new:?}")]
    ColumnTypeMismatch {
        name: String,
        existing: ColumnType,
        new: ColumnType,
    },

    #[error("catalog update error: {0}")]
    CatalogUpdateError(#[from] CatalogError),

    #[error("error from persister: {0}")]
    PersisterError(#[from] PersisterError),

    #[error("corrupt load state: {0}")]
    CorruptLoadState(String),

    #[error("database name error: {0}")]
    DatabaseNameError(#[from] DatabaseNameError),

    #[error("error from table buffer: {0}")]
    TableBufferError(#[from] table_buffer::Error),

    #[error("error in last cache: {0}")]
    LastCacheError(#[from] last_cache::Error),

    #[error("database not found {db_name:?}")]
    DatabaseNotFound { db_name: String },

    #[error("table not found {table_name:?} in db {db_name:?}")]
    TableNotFound { db_name: String, table_name: String },

    #[error("tried accessing database that does not exist")]

View on GitHub (pinned to 06200ef96b)