microsoft/semantic-kernel · error · ServiceResourceNotFoundError

Collection {collection_name} does not exist, cannot remove.

Error message

Collection {collection_name} does not exist, cannot remove.

What it means

Raised as a ServiceResourceNotFoundError in MilvusMemoryStore.remove_batch when the collection name is not in utility.list_collections(). The remove path requires an existing collection to load and delete from.

Source

Thrown at python/semantic_kernel/connectors/memory_stores/milvus/milvus_memory_store.py:368

            collection_name (str): Collection to remove from.
            key (str): The key to remove.
        """
        await self.remove_batch(collection_name=collection_name, keys=[key])

    async def remove_batch(self, collection_name: str, keys: list[str]) -> None:
        """Remove multiple records based on keys.

        Args:
            collection_name (str): Collection to remove from
            keys (List[str]): The list of keys.

        Raises:
            Exception: Collection doesnt exist.
            e: Failure to remove key.
        """
        if collection_name not in utility.list_collections():
            logger.debug(f"Collection {collection_name} does not exist, cannot remove.")
            raise ServiceResourceNotFoundError(f"Collection {collection_name} does not exist, cannot remove.")
        try:
            self.collections[collection_name].load()
            result = self.collections[collection_name].delete(
                expr=f"{SEARCH_FIELD_ID} in {keys}",
            )
            self.collections[collection_name].flush()
        except Exception as e:
            logger.debug(f"Remove failed due to: {e}")
            raise ServiceResponseException(f"Remove failed due to: {e}") from e
        if result.delete_count != len(keys):
            logger.debug(f"Failed to remove all keys, {result.delete_count} removed out of {len(keys)}")
            raise ServiceResponseException(
                f"Failed to remove all keys, {result.delete_count} removed out of {len(keys)}"
            )

    async def get_nearest_matches(
        self,
        collection_name: str,

View on GitHub (pinned to c028a0c7dc)

Solutions

  1. Guard with utility.has_collection(collection_name) before calling remove/remove_batch.
  2. Catch ServiceResourceNotFoundError and treat removal of a non-existent collection as a no-op if idempotent deletion is desired.
  3. Verify collection name spelling and the target Milvus instance.
  4. Ensure create_collection ran in the current environment.

Example fix

// before
await store.remove('docs', key)  # ServiceResourceNotFoundError
// after
try:
    await store.remove_batch('docs', [key])
except ServiceResourceNotFoundError:
    pass  # collection already gone; nothing to remove
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

from pymilvus import utility

if collection_name in utility.list_collections():
    await store.remove_batch('docs', keys)
else:
    logging.info('Collection absent; skip remove')

Try / catch

from semantic_kernel.exceptions import ServiceResourceNotFoundError

try:
    await store.remove_batch('docs', keys)
except ServiceResourceNotFoundError:
    pass  # idempotent: collection already absent

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling await store.remove('my_collection', key) or remove_batch on a collection that does not exist. Note remove delegates to remove_batch. The collection may have been dropped or never created.

Common situations: Cleanup/teardown code running against a collection already deleted. Collection name mismatch. Running remove in a fresh environment where create_collection was never called.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/semantic-kernel@c028a0c7dc (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9ce86b4681ce4e6b. Report an issue: GitHub.