influxdata/influxdb · error · Error

write buffer error

Error message

write buffer error: {0}

What it means

The WriteBuffer variant wraps write_buffer::Error, the core error type of the InfluxDB 3 write buffer (the in-memory/persisted buffer accepting line-protocol writes). Any failure during ingesting, validating, buffering, or persisting written data is re-exposed through this variant. Check the wrapped inner error for the real cause.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped write_buffer::Error via the Display/#[from] source to get the specific cause
2. Fix the line protocol or field types in client payloads to match the existing schema
3. Recreate the database/table or adjust schema if a hard schema conflict occurred
4. Check server logs for buffer persistence failures (object store availability, disk space)

Example fix

// before
line_protocol: "cpu,host=a usage=" // empty field value, parse error inside write buffer
// after
line_protocol: "cpu,host=a usage=0.5" // valid field value

// validate line protocol before writing
if !line.contains('=') || line.split(',').next().map_or(true, |m| m.is_empty()) {
    return Err("invalid line protocol point");
}

fn is_write_buffer_error(e: &influxdb3_write::Error) -> Option<&write_buffer::Error> {
    match e { influxdb3_write::Error::WriteBuffer(w) => Some(w), _ => None }
}

match buffer.write_lp(namespace, lp, accept_partial, ingest_time) {
    Err(influxdb3_write::Error::WriteBuffer(inner)) => {
        log::warn!("write rejected by buffer: {}", inner);
        // inspect inner for parse vs schema vs persistence cause
    }
    r => r?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calls to WriteBuffer::write_lp / persist operations returning write_buffer::Error: invalid line protocol, schema conflicts (field type changes), database/table creation failures, or internal buffer errors during ingest.

Common situations: Clients sending malformed line protocol; a table's field types conflict with an existing schema (e.g. sending a string where an integer exists); writing to a deleted database; compaction/write-buffer threads failing in server logs.

Related errors

• Write buffer error
• error from table buffer
• failed to initialize write buffer
• is not a valid data type, values are int64, uint64…
• a supported service limit value is required

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/100e326235165666. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_write/src/lib.rs:51

};
use influxdb3_id::{DbId, ParquetFileId, SerdeVecMap, TableId};
use influxdb3_types::DatabaseName;
pub use influxdb3_types::write::Precision;
use influxdb3_wal::{SnapshotSequenceNumber, Wal, WalFileSequenceNumber};
use iox_query::QueryChunk;
use iox_time::Time;
use observability_deps::tracing::debug;
use schema::TIME_COLUMN_NAME;
use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
use std::{fmt::Debug, sync::Arc};
use thiserror::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Error)]
pub enum Error {
    #[error("object store path error: {0}")]
    ObjStorePath(#[from] object_store::path::Error),

    #[error("write buffer error: {0}")]
    WriteBuffer(#[from] write_buffer::Error),

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

    #[error("queries not supported in compactor only mode")]
    CompactorOnly,

    #[error("unexpected: {0:?}")]
    Anyhow(#[from] anyhow::Error),
}

pub type Result<T, E = Error> = std::result::Result<T, E>;

pub trait WriteBuffer: Bufferer + ChunkContainer + DistinctCacheManager + LastCacheManager {}

/// The buffer is for buffering data in memory and in the wal before it is persisted as parquet files in storage.
#[async_trait]

View on GitHub (pinned to 06200ef96b)