instructure/canvas-lms · error · ImportError

Account not found "#

Error message

Account not found "#{account_id}" for course #{course_id}

What it means

SisCourseImporter#add_course raises ImportError when account_id is present but no account in the root account's account tree has that sis_source_id. The importer looks up accounts by SIS id via @root_account.all_accounts; a non-blank account_id that resolves to nothing is a hard error, whereas a blank account_id silently falls back to fallback_account_id or the root account.

Solutions

1. Ensure accounts.csv is imported before courses.csv in the same batch so referenced accounts exist
2. Verify the account's sis_source_id matches exactly (case, whitespace, no renames) in accounts.csv
3. Confirm the account belongs to the same root account the importer is running against
4. If the account was intentionally removed, update or remove the course rows referencing it
5. Use fallback_account_id (or leave account_id blank) if the course should land in a default subaccount

Example fix

// before
course.add_course(id, term, "dept-eng-42", nil, status, ...) # dept-eng-42 not yet imported
// after: import accounts first, or fall back
importer.add_course(id, term, "dept-eng-42", "root-dept", status, ...) # fallback if primary missing

known_accounts = root_account.all_accounts.pluck(:sis_source_id)
if row['account_id'].present? && !known_accounts.include?(row['account_id'])
  raise ArgumentError, "unknown account_id #{row['account_id']} for course #{row['course_id']}"
end

nil

begin
  importer.add_course(...)
rescue SisImport::ImportError => e
  raise unless e.message.start_with?('Account not found')
  failures << e.message # collect and re-run after accounts.csv is fixed/imported
end

When it happens

Trigger: add_course called with account_id="acc-42" where no account with sis_source_id 'acc-42' exists under the root account — e.g. the account was deleted, lives under a different root, the sis_source_id was renamed, or the accounts.csv containing it was not imported (or imported in a later batch).

Common situations: courses.csv imported before its companion accounts.csv (ordering issue); account deleted in the SIS of record but still referenced by course rows; cross-subaccount typos or renames; multi-tenant setups where the account belongs to another root account.

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• A course did not pass validation
• A # user did not pass validation (user: # , # : # , error…
• A (templated) course did not pass validation
• A # did not pass validation (# : # , error: # )
• A user did not pass validation

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4d3f3f15b6f62b5a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/sis/course_importer.rb:96

          if course.nil?
            course = Course.new
            state_changes << :created
          else
            state_changes << :updated
          end
          course.saved_by = :sis_import
          course_enrollment_term_id_stuck = course.stuck_sis_fields.include?(:enrollment_term_id)
          if !course_enrollment_term_id_stuck && term_id
            term = @root_account.enrollment_terms.active.find_by(sis_source_id: term_id)
          end
          course.enrollment_term = term if term
          course.root_account = @root_account

          account = nil
          account = @root_account.all_accounts.find_by(sis_source_id: account_id) if account_id.present?
          account ||= @root_account.all_accounts.find_by(sis_source_id: fallback_account_id) if fallback_account_id.present?
          if account_id.present? && !account
            raise ImportError, "Account not found \"#{account_id}\" for course #{course_id}"
          end

          course_account_stuck = course.stuck_sis_fields.include?(:account_id)
          if !course_account_stuck && account&.active?
            course.account = account
          end

          if course.account&.deleted?
            raise ImportError, "Cannot restore course #{course_id} because the associated account #{course.account.sis_source_id} is deleted"
          end

          course.account ||= @root_account

          update_account_associations = course.account_id_changed? || course.root_account_id_changed?

          if account&.enable_as_k5_account? && friendly_name.present?
            course.friendly_name = friendly_name
          end

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