instructure/canvas-lms · warning

Invalid action.

Error message

Invalid action.

What it means

DiscussionTopicsApiController#summary_feedback dispatches on an :action param (e.g. reset_like, disable_summary). Any action value outside the known case branches falls into the else, logs a warning, and renders a 400 JSON body { error: "Invalid action." } rather than raising.

Solutions

1. Send one of the supported action values the case statement handles (e.g. :reset_like, :disable_summary)
2. Check the controller for the current list of valid actions for your Canvas version
3. Update the client integration to match the deployed Canvas API surface
4. If server-side, add the new action to the case statement and instrument it

Example fix

// before
fetch(url, { method: 'POST', body: { action: 'like' } })
// after
fetch(url, { method: 'POST', body: { action: 'reset_like' } })

const VALID_ACTIONS = ['reset_like', 'disable_summary']
if (!VALID_ACTIONS.includes(action)) throw new Error(`unsupported action: ${action}`)

const isValidAction = (a) => ['reset_like','disable_summary'].includes(a)

const res = await fetch(url, opts)
if (res.status === 400) {
  const body = await res.json()
  if (body.error === 'Invalid action.') console.error('fix action param:', action)
}

When it happens

Trigger: POSTing/PATCHing to the summary feedback endpoint with an unrecognized or misspelled `action` parameter (e.g. action=like when only reset_like/disable_summary are supported, or action omitted/blank).

Common situations: Client/server API version drift where a client sends actions this Canvas build doesn't know; typos in integrations; automated scripts built from outdated API docs.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot change locked status on granular permission
• GUID is invalid: #
• invalid calculation_int: #
• invalid calculation_method: #
• invalid description value: #

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/26aa46962bfd9785. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at app/controllers/discussion_topics_api_controller.rb:334

      InstStatsd::Statsd.distributed_increment("discussion_topic.summary.feedback.disliked")
    when :add_comment
      render(json: { error: t("Comment is required.") }, status: :bad_request) and return if params[:comment].blank?

      begin
        feedback.add_comment(params[:comment])
      rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => e
        render(json: { error: e.message }, status: :bad_request) and return
      end
      InstStatsd::Statsd.distributed_increment("discussion_topic.summary.feedback.comment_added")
    when :reset_like
      feedback.reset_like
      InstStatsd::Statsd.distributed_increment("discussion_topic.summary.feedback.reset_like")
    when :disable_summary
      feedback.disable_summary
      InstStatsd::Statsd.distributed_increment("discussion_topic.summary.feedback.disabled")
    else
      logger.warn("Invalid discussion topic summary feedback action: #{action}")
      render(json: { error: "Invalid action." }, status: :bad_request) and return
    end

    render(json: { liked: feedback.liked, disliked: feedback.disliked, comment: feedback.comment })
  end

  def insight
    return render_unauthorized_action unless @topic.user_can_access_insights?(@current_user)

    insight = @topic.insights.order(created_at: :desc).first
    if insight.nil?
      return render(json: { workflow_state: nil })
    end

    data = {
      workflow_state: insight.workflow_state,
    }

    if DiscussionTopicInsight::TERMINAL_WORKFLOW_STATES.include?(insight.workflow_state)

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