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

'sticker' is required. Provide a value of null to remove a…

Error message

'sticker' is required. Provide a value of null to remove a sticker

What it means

UpdateSubmissionSticker mutation requires the sticker argument key to be present in the input, even when removing a sticker (value must be explicitly null). Because the argument is declared required: false, GraphQL omits absent keys, so the mutation checks input.key?(:sticker) and raises when the key is missing entirely.

Solutions

1. Always pass sticker explicitly, sending null to remove it
2. Ensure your HTTP client does not drop null-valued variables
3. Add sticker: null in the mutation variables object
4. Default the UI to send the current sticker value when unchanged

Example fix

// before
updateSubmissionSticker(input: {assignmentId, anonymousId}) // key omitted
// after
updateSubmissionSticker(input: {assignmentId, anonymousId, sticker: null}) // removes sticker

const vars = {assignmentId, anonymousId}; if (!('sticker' in vars)) vars.sticker = currentSticker ?? null;

try { await gql(updateSubmissionStickerMutation, vars) } catch (e) { if (/sticker' is required/.test(e.message)) vars.sticker = null; else throw e } // then retry

When it happens

Trigger: Calling updateSubmissionSticker without passing sticker at all, intending to remove a sticker but sending no field, or a client that strips null values from the variables payload.

Common situations: Client serialization (e.g. omitting undefined/null in JSON bodies); developer assumes absence equals removal; older client versions predating the sticker field.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

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AI-assisted analysis of instructure/canvas-lms@1c9f0bb801 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/831915601b50a700. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at app/graphql/mutations/update_submission_sticker.rb:29

#
# Canvas is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more
# details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along
# with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
#
class Mutations::UpdateSubmissionSticker < Mutations::BaseMutation
  argument :anonymous_id, ID, required: true
  argument :assignment_id, ID, required: true
  argument :sticker, Types::StickerType, required: false

  field :submission, Types::SubmissionType, null: false

  def resolve(input:)
    # Ideally we would use required: :nullable above for sticker, but it doesn't seem to work...
    raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "'sticker' is required. Provide a value of null to remove a sticker" unless input.key?(:sticker)

    submission = Submission.find_by(
      root_account: context[:domain_root_account],
      assignment_id: input.fetch(:assignment_id),
      anonymous_id: input.fetch(:anonymous_id)
    )

    raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "not found" if submission.nil? || !submission.grants_right?(current_user, :grade)
    raise GraphQL::ExecutionError, "Stickers feature flag must be enabled" unless submission.course.feature_enabled?(:submission_stickers)

    if submission.update(sticker: input.fetch(:sticker))
      { submission: }
    else
      errors_for(submission)
    end
  end
end

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