instructure/canvas-lms · error · ImportError

No institutional_tag_id given for an institutional tag

Error message

No institutional_tag_id given for an institutional tag

What it means

Raised by SisImports::InstitutionalTagImporter#add_institutional_tag when the tag_id argument is blank. The institutional tag id is the primary identifier used to match existing tags via sis_source_id, so the importer rejects any tag row lacking it before the other field validations. This is the tag-level counterpart of the 'No category_id' check.

Solutions

1. Populate the institutional_tag_id column for the affected row(s) in the institutional_tags CSV and re-import.
2. Fix the import mapping/scope so the tag id column is actually passed as tag_id.
3. If the row is not meant to be imported, remove it from the file rather than leaving the id blank.
4. Check upstream export tooling so every tag emits a unique, non-empty id.

Example fix

// before
add_institutional_tag('', 'cat-1', 'Spring Tag', 'desc', 'active')
// after
add_institutional_tag('tag-101', 'cat-1', 'Spring Tag', 'desc', 'active')

raise ArgumentError, 'tag_id is required' if tag_id.blank?
add_institutional_tag(tag_id, category_id, name, description, status)

begin
  importer.add_institutional_tag(tag_id, category_id, name, description, status)
rescue SisImports::ImportError => e
  Rails.logger.warn("Skipping tag #{tag_id}: #{e.message}")
end

When it happens

Trigger: Calling add_institutional_tag(tag_id, category_id, name, description, status) with tag_id nil, '' or whitespace; a CSV row in the institutional_tags SIS file with an empty tag id column; a column mapping/scope bug that binds an empty field to tag_id.

Common situations: Hand-built or partially regenerated SIS exports where the tag id column is missing; upstream data lacking identifiers for newly added tags; template reordering so the wrong (empty) column feeds tag_id.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• No name given for institutional tag category #
• No status given for institutional tag category #
• An institutional tag category did not pass validation
• Improper status "# " for institutional tag category #
• A course did not pass validation

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9b00a54adeaabb20. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/sis/institutional_tag_importer.rb:43

      yield importer
      SisBatchRollBackData.bulk_insert_roll_back_data(importer.roll_back_data)
      importer.success_count
    end

    class Work
      attr_accessor :success_count, :roll_back_data

      def initialize(batch, root_account, logger)
        @batch = batch
        @root_account = root_account
        @logger = logger
        @success_count = 0
        @roll_back_data = []
        @categories_cache = {}
      end

      def add_institutional_tag(tag_id, category_id, name, description, status)
        raise ImportError, "No institutional_tag_id given for an institutional tag" if tag_id.blank?
        raise ImportError, "No category_id given for institutional tag #{tag_id}" if category_id.blank?
        raise ImportError, "No name given for institutional tag #{tag_id}" if name.blank?
        raise ImportError, "No description given for institutional tag #{tag_id}" if description.blank?
        raise ImportError, "No status given for institutional tag #{tag_id}" if status.blank?
        raise ImportError, "Improper status \"#{status}\" for institutional tag #{tag_id}" unless /\A(active|deleted)/i.match?(status)
        return if @batch.skip_deletes? && /deleted/i.match?(status)

        category = @categories_cache[category_id]
        category ||= InstitutionalTagCategory.find_by(root_account_id: @root_account.id, sis_source_id: category_id)
        raise ImportError, "Category with id \"#{category_id}\" didn't exist for institutional tag #{tag_id}" unless category

        @categories_cache[category_id] = category

        tag = InstitutionalTag.find_by(root_account_id: @root_account.id, sis_source_id: tag_id)
        tag ||= InstitutionalTag.new(category:,
                                     root_account: @root_account,
                                     sis_source_id: tag_id)

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