instructure/canvas-lms · error · Canvas::Migration::Error

Not importing academic benchmark data because no user id set

Error message

Not importing academic benchmark data because no user id set

What it means

Academic Benchmark migrations must attribute imports to a real user id stored in the `academic_benchmark_migration_user_id` setting. ensure_user_id_set raises Canvas::Migration::Error when this setting is absent/blank, since imports cannot proceed without a valid owning user.

Solutions

Set the setting: `Setting.set('academic_benchmark_migration_user_id', <existing active user id>)` on the relevant shard/root account
Pick an admin user as the migration user and persist their id
Re-create the setting if it was lost during environment migration
Check `Setting.get('academic_benchmark_migration_user_id', nil)` in console before running imports

Example fix

// console
# before
Setting.get('academic_benchmark_migration_user_id', nil) # => nil
// after
admin = Account.site_admin.admin_users.first
Setting.set('academic_benchmark_migration_user_id', admin.id)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

uid = Setting.get('academic_benchmark_migration_user_id', nil)
raise 'migration user id not set' unless uid.present?

Try / catch

begin
  AcademicBenchmark.import(...)
rescue Canvas::Migration::Error => e
  raise unless e.message.include?('no user id set')
  Rails.logger.error('Seed academic_benchmark_migration_user_id')
end

Prevention

Seed the setting on every shard at provisioning
Point it at a durable admin/service account
Re-verify after user cleanup scripts

When it happens

Trigger: Enqueuing or running an AB content migration when the root account Setting `academic_benchmark_migration_user_id` is unset or empty.

Common situations: Fresh installs or new shards where the setting was never seeded; the configured migration user was deleted and the setting cleared; multi-tenant setups where only some accounts have the setting.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required config value" errors: why libraries refuse to start when a configuration key is empty, unset, or blank — this error's family across 48 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e07dff7b3db6607f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at gems/plugins/academic_benchmark/lib/academic_benchmark.rb:212

    end
  end

  def self.ensure_partner_key
    unless AcademicBenchmark.config[:partner_key].present?
      "Partner key is not set"
    end
  end

  def self.authorized?
    check_for_import_rights(
      user: ensure_real_user(user_id: ensure_user_id_set)
    )
  end

  def self.ensure_user_id_set
    uid = Setting.get("academic_benchmark_migration_user_id", nil)
    unless uid.present?
      raise Canvas::Migration::Error,
            "Not importing academic benchmark data because no user id set"
    end
    uid
  end

  def self.ensure_real_user(user_id:)
    u = User.find_by(id: user_id)
    unless u
      raise Canvas::Migration::Error,
            "Not importing academic benchmark data because no user found matching id '#{user_id}'"
    end
    u
  end

  def self.check_for_import_rights(user:)
    unless Account.site_admin.grants_right?(user, :manage_global_outcomes)
      raise Canvas::Migration::Error,
            "Not importing academic benchmark data because user with ID " \

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