influxdata/influxdb · error · CatalogError

invalid column type for column

Error message

invalid column type for column '{column_name}', expected {expected}, got {got}

What it means

CatalogError::InvalidColumnType is thrown when a column's type does not match what the operation expects — e.g. altering a table or writing against a column whose actual InfluxColumnType differs from the declared/expected one. The error carries the column name plus both the expected and got types so the mismatch is diagnosable.

Solutions

Inspect the table schema and change the incoming write/operation to use the existing column type.
Use a differently named column for the new type instead of conflicting with the existing one.
If the schema itself is wrong, migrate the table: create a new column of the correct type, backfill, and drop the old one.

Example fix

// before
line: 'cpu temp=72i'  // temp is float in schema -> InvalidColumnType
// after
line: 'cpu temp=72.0'

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

async function assertColumnType(db, table, col, expectedType) {
  const schema = await getTableSchema(db, table);
  const actual = schema.columns.find(c => c.name === col)?.type;
  if (actual !== expectedType) throw new Error(`${col} is ${actual}, expected ${expectedType}`);
}

Type guard

const columnMatches = (schema, name, type) =>
  schema.columns.some(c => c.name === name && c.type === type);

Try / catch

try {
  await writePoint(point);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes("invalid column type")) {
    await alignWriterSchemaWithCatalog(); // resync writer to catalog types
  } else { throw e; }
}

Prevention

Generate writer payloads from the catalog schema, not hardcoded literals.
Use explicit numeric literals (72.0 vs 72i) matching declared types.
Pin a shared schema definition consumed by both migrations and writers.

When it happens

Trigger: Adding a column to a table definition where a column of the same name already exists with a different type; write requests whose field/tag type for a named column disagrees with the table schema; schema-alter operations supplying an incompatible InfluxColumnType.

Common situations: Writers sending a field as an integer while the schema defines it as float; renaming/refactoring that reuses an existing column name with a new type; replaying old line-protocol data after a schema change.

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/465b502c1fc68924. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_catalog/src/error.rs:90

        live_sequence: u64,
    },

    #[error("invalid configuration provided: {message}")]
    InvalidConfiguration { message: Box<str> },

    #[error("only tag and string columns are supported in the distinct cache")]
    InvalidDistinctCacheColumnType,

    #[error("only uint64, int64, bool, tag, and string columns are supported in the last cache")]
    InvalidLastCacheKeyColumnType,

    #[error("plugin trigger is already enabled")]
    TriggerAlreadyEnabled,

    #[error("plugin trigger is already disabled")]
    TriggerAlreadyDisabled,

    #[error("invalid column type for column '{column_name}', expected {expected}, got {got}")]
    InvalidColumnType {
        column_name: Arc<str>,
        expected: InfluxColumnType,
        got: InfluxColumnType,
    },

    #[error("'{0}' is a reserved column")]
    ReservedColumn(Arc<str>),

    #[error(
        "table '{table_name}' is not defined in database '{db_name}', which uses explicit schemas; \
         create the table with the /api/v3/configure/table API before writing to it"
    )]
    UndeclaredTable {
        db_name: Arc<str>,
        table_name: Arc<str>,
    },

View on GitHub (pinned to 06200ef96b)