influxdata/influxdb · error · Error

invalid mime type ( )

Error message

invalid mime type ({0})

What it means

`Error::InvalidMimeType` is returned when a MIME type string supplied with the request (typically the Content-Type value) cannot be parsed into a valid `mime::Mime`. Unlike the NonUtf8 header errors, the string is readable but malformed as a media type.

Solutions

1. Use a well-formed media type string such as "text/plain", "application/json", or "application/vnd.influxdb.v3+csv"
2. Validate the configured content type in your client with a MIME parser before sending
3. Remove stray parameters/whitespace/semicolons from the header value
4. Let your HTTP library set the default Content-Type instead of overriding it with a custom string

Example fix

// before
headers.set('Content-Type', 'text');
// after
headers.set('Content-Type', 'text/plain');

const MIME_RE = /^[\w.+-]+\/[\w.+-]+(\s*;.*)?$/;
if (!MIME_RE.test(contentType)) throw new Error('malformed content-type: ' + contentType);

When it happens

Trigger: Passing Content-Type values like "text", "plain-text/lp; ;", or other strings that fail MIME parsing; the offending value is embedded in the message.

Common situations: Hand-typed or interpolated Content-Type headers with typos, missing subtype ("application"), stray semicolons/parameters, or clients constructing the header from user configuration.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• unacceptable content-type, expected
• invalid content-type header
• invalid mime type ( )
• invalid mime type ( )
• the mime type specified was not valid UTF8

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/881b37a062552286. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_server/src/http.rs:231

    InvalidContentEncoding(String),

    /// The specified `Content-Type` is not acceptable.
    #[error("unacceptable content-type, expected: {expected}")]
    InvalidContentType { expected: mime::Mime },

    /// The client disconnected.
    #[error("client disconnected")]
    ClientHangup(Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>),

    /// The client sent a request body that exceeds the configured maximum.
    #[error("max request size ({0} bytes) exceeded")]
    RequestSizeExceeded(usize),

    /// Decoding a gzip-compressed stream of data failed.
    #[error("error decoding gzip stream: {0}")]
    InvalidGzip(std::io::Error),

    #[error("invalid mime type ({0})")]
    InvalidMimeType(String),

    /// DatabaseName validation error.
    #[error("error validating database name: {0}")]
    InvalidDatabaseName(#[from] DatabaseNameError),

    /// Failure to decode the provided line protocol.
    #[error("failed to parse line protocol: {0}")]
    ParseLineProtocol(influxdb_line_protocol::Error),

    /// The router is currently servicing the maximum permitted number of
    /// simultaneous requests.
    #[error("this service is overloaded, please try again later")]
    RequestLimit,

    /// The request has no authentication, but authorization is configured.
    #[error("authentication required")]
    Unauthenticated,

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