ipfs/kubo · warning

key not found: %s

Error message

key not found: %s

What it means

`ipfs diag datastore get <key>` wraps datastore.ErrNotFound as 'key not found: <key>'. The requested key simply does not exist in the datastore; this is a user-input/lookup mismatch, distinguished from other read errors by errors.Is(err, datastore.ErrNotFound).

Source

Thrown at core/commands/diag.go:195

	Options: []cmds.Option{
		cmds.BoolOption(diagDatastoreHexOptionName, "Output hex dump instead of raw bytes"),
	},
	NoRemote: true,
	PreRun:   DaemonNotRunning,
	Run: func(req *cmds.Request, res cmds.ResponseEmitter, env cmds.Environment) error {
		ds, closer, err := openDiagDatastore(env)
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		defer closer()

		keyStr := req.Arguments[0]
		key := datastore.NewKey(keyStr)

		val, err := ds.Get(req.Context, key)
		if err != nil {
			if errors.Is(err, datastore.ErrNotFound) {
				return fmt.Errorf("key not found: %s", keyStr)
			}
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to read key: %w", err)
		}

		result := &diagDatastoreGetResult{
			Key:   keyStr,
			Value: val,
		}

		if hexDump, _ := req.Options[diagDatastoreHexOptionName].(bool); hexDump {
			result.HexDump = hex.Dump(val)
		}

		return cmds.EmitOnce(res, result)
	},
	Type: diagDatastoreGetResult{},
	Encoders: cmds.EncoderMap{
		cmds.Text: cmds.MakeTypedEncoder(func(req *cmds.Request, w io.Writer, result *diagDatastoreGetResult) error {

View on GitHub (pinned to 329838acdf)

Solutions

1. Verify the exact key with `ipfs diag datastore ls` or by listing the datastore directly
2. Check which datastore mount owns the key (main blockstore vs provider keystore mounts)
3. Use `ipfs dag get`/`ipfs block get` for content, since block CIDs are stored under prefixed keys

Example fix

// before
ipfs diag datastore get /blocks/wrongkey
// error: key not found: /blocks/wrongkey
// after
ipfs diag datastore ls | grep <key-substring>
ipfs diag datastore get /blocks/CIQ...correctmultihash

val, err := ds.Get(ctx, key)
if errors.Is(err, datastore.ErrNotFound) { return fmt.Errorf("key not found: %s", keyStr) }

err := diagDatastoreGet(key)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "key not found") { listKeysAndRetry() }

When it happens

Trigger: `ipfs diag datastore get <keyStr>` where ds.Get returns datastore.ErrNotFound for the given key.

Common situations: Guessing internal datastore key names; typos in key paths; keys from a different datastore/mount (keystore vs main datastore); keys garbage-collected away.

Related errors

• failed to find specified key
• failed to get config value: %q
• failed to open repo: %w
• failed to read key: %w
• reading new root block: %w

AI-assisted analysis of ipfs/kubo@329838acdf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f8add8f99c853f4a. Report an issue: GitHub.