instructure/canvas-lms · error · ImportError

Course with id "# " didn't exist for # #

Error message

Course with id "#{course_id}" didn't exist for #{type_display} #{sis_id}

What it means

find_context looks up a Course by sis_source_id (@root_account.all_courses.active.find_by). When the row's course_id doesn't match an active course under the root account, the importer can't resolve the owning context and raises ImportError.

Solutions

  1. Confirm the course_id equals an active course's sis_source_id under the root account (courses table, workflow_state 'available'/'created').
  2. Run a courses import before the groups/categories import so target courses exist.
  3. Re-export the CSV to pick up renamed or new sis_source_ids.
  4. If the course is concluded/deleted, restore it or drop the row.

Example fix

// before
gc-1,Math Groups,,COURSE-999,active  # no such course
// after
gc-1,Math Groups,,COURSE-42,active
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

unless Course.active.where(root_account_id: root_account.id, sis_source_id: course_id).exists?
  raise ArgumentError, "course #{course_id} not found under root account"
end

Try / catch

begin
  importer.add_tag(sis_id, nil, course_id, name, status)
rescue SIS::GroupImporter::ImportError => e
  if e.message =~ /Course with id/ then defer_row(sis_id, e.message)
  else raise end
end

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: add_group_category / add_differentiation_tag_set / add_group / add_tag called with a course_id whose sis_source_id does not exist, is soft-deleted, is inactive, or is under a different root account.

Common situations: Importing into a fresh/empty Canvas instance before courses were provisioned; course sis_source_id renamed; course concluded/deleted since export; cross-shard or cross-root-account ID mismatch; typos in the CSV.

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

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a1958b96a4e9007e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/sis/group_category_importer.rb:71

      def find_context(account_id, course_id, sis_id, type_display)
        context = nil
        if account_id && course_id
          raise ImportError, "Only one context is allowed and both course_id and account_id where provided for #{type_display} #{sis_id}."
        end

        if account_id
          context = @accounts_cache[account_id]
          context ||= @root_account.all_accounts.active.find_by(sis_source_id: account_id)
          raise ImportError, "Account with id \"#{account_id}\" didn't exist for #{type_display} #{sis_id}" unless context

          @accounts_cache[context.sis_source_id] = context
        end

        if course_id
          context = @courses_cache[course_id]
          context ||= @root_account.all_courses.active.find_by(sis_source_id: course_id)
          raise ImportError, "Course with id \"#{course_id}\" didn't exist for #{type_display} #{sis_id}" unless context

          @courses_cache[context.sis_source_id] = context
        elsif course_id.nil? && type_display == "differentiation tag set"
          raise ImportError, "No course_id given for #{type_display} #{sis_id}"
        end

        context || @root_account
      end

      def check_context_movement(category, context, sis_id, type_display)
        if category && category.groups.active.exists? &&
           !(context.id == category.context_id && context.class.base_class.name == category.context_type)

          item_type = type_display.include?("tag") ? "tags" : "groups"

          raise ImportError, "Cannot move #{type_display} #{sis_id} because it has #{item_type} in it."
        end
      end

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