instructure/canvas-lms · warning · GraphQL::ExecutionError

search term must be at least #

Error message

search term must be at least #{SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH} characters

What it means

AssignmentType's search argument prepare hook. Any assignment-related connection queried with a non-blank search term shorter than SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH raises GraphQL::ExecutionError during argument preparation, rejecting too-short search inputs before the DB query runs.

Solutions

1. Send a search term of at least SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH characters
2. Validate the term length client-side before issuing the query
3. Omit the search argument entirely instead of passing a too-short string

Example fix

// before
search: "jo"
// after
search: "john"

if (!term || term.length >= MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH) queryAssignment({ search: term })

function searchOk(term, min) { return term == null || term.length >= min }

When it happens

Trigger: Querying an assignment connection field that declares prepare: :prepare_search_term (e.g. submissions with a student search) with a present but under-length search string.

Common situations: Client-side search boxes firing on short input; hardcoded short terms in scripts; unawareness of the server minimum length.

Understand the failure class

Background: "value must be between 0 and 1" / "out of range" / "must not be negative" errors: fixing range-validation failures across open-source libraries — this error's family across 42 libraries.

Related errors

• search term must be at least #
• search term must be at least #
• and cannot be used together
• and cannot be used together
• Anonymous assignments cannot be posted by graded only

AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0cd922aed246492e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at app/graphql/types/assignment_type.rb:236

    class AnonymousStudentIdentityType < ApplicationObjectType
      description "An anonymous student identity"

      field :anonymous_id, ID, null: false
      field :name, String, null: false
      field :position, Int, null: false
    end

    class AssignedStudentsFilterInputType < Types::BaseInputObject
      graphql_name "AssignedStudentsFilter"

      argument :search_term,
               String,
               required: false,
               prepare: :prepare_search_term

      def prepare_search_term(term)
        if term.presence && term.length < SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH
          raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "search term must be at least #{SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH} characters"
        end

        term
      end
    end

    class AllocationRulesFilterInputType < Types::BaseInputObject
      argument :search_term,
               String,
               required: false,
               prepare: :prepare_search_term

      def prepare_search_term(term)
        if term.presence && term.length < SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH
          raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "search term must be at least #{SearchTermHelper::MIN_SEARCH_TERM_LENGTH} characters"
        end

        term

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