influxdata/influxdb · error · Error

line protocol parse failed

Error message

line protocol parse failed: {}

What it means

write_buffer::Error::ParseError indicates that one or more lines of InfluxDB line protocol failed to parse before entering the write buffer. The wrapped WriteLineError carries the precise error_message (line number and reason). The batch was rejected; no data from the failing line was written.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped WriteLineError's error_message for the exact line number and parse reason.
2. Fix the offending line: quote values containing commas/spaces/equals and suffix integer fields with 'i'.
3. Validate payloads client-side with a line protocol parser/linter before sending.
4. Ensure timestamps are valid 64-bit nanosecond Unix timestamps (or correct precision with the precision parameter).

Example fix

// before
let lp = "m,tag=a value=hello 123"; // value not parseable as float
buffer.write_lp(lp).await?;
// after
let lp = "m,tag=a value=\"hello\" 123"; // quote string fields
buffer.write_lp(lp).await?;

// Rust: validate line protocol client-side before writing
fn is_valid_lp(batch: &str) -> bool {
  batch.lines().all(|l| {
    let l = l.trim();
    !l.is_empty()
      && l.split_once(' ').map_or(false, |(m, _)| !m.is_empty())
      // additionally run influxdb3 line-protocol parser in dry-run
  })
}

fn as_parse_error(e: &write_buffer::Error) -> Option<&WriteLineError> {
  match e { write_buffer::Error::ParseError(wle) => Some(wle), _ => None }
}

match buffer.write_lp(payload).await {
  Err(write_buffer::Error::ParseError(wle)) => {
    log::warn!("rejected LP at {}: {}", wle.line_number(), wle.error_message);
    dead_letter(payload_line(wle.line_number()));
  }
  Err(e) => return Err(e),
  Ok(r) => r,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the write buffer's write_lp / line-protocol ingestion API with malformed input: bad timestamps, unquoted commas/equals in field keys or tags, invalid field values, or wrong measurement syntax.

Common situations: Telegraf or custom agents emitting unescaped special characters (spaces, commas, =) in tags; clients sending integer fields without the 'i' suffix; mixing up line protocol v1 conventions; truncated payloads from flaky HTTP clients; timestamps in wrong unit or out of range.

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

• Cannot write
• cannot write to soft-deleted database
• column ' ' ( ) is not defined in table ' ' of database ' '…
• column type mismatch for column
• error in distinct value cache

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fef3a197c1e9878c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_write/src/write_buffer/mod.rs:70

use iox_time::{Time, TimeProvider};
use metric::Registry;
use metrics::WriteMetrics;
use object_store::{ObjectMeta, ObjectStore, path::Path as ObjPath};
use observability_deps::tracing::{debug, info, trace, warn};
use parquet_file::storage::DataSourceExecInput;
use queryable_buffer::QueryableBufferArgs;
use schema::Schema;
use std::{
    borrow::Borrow,
    num::{NonZeroU64, NonZeroUsize},
    sync::Arc,
    time::Duration,
};
use thiserror::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Error)]
pub enum Error {
    #[error("line protocol parse failed: {}", .0.error_message)]
    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),

View on GitHub (pinned to 06200ef96b)