microsoft/semantic-kernel · error · ServiceResourceNotFoundError

Collection '{collection_name}' does not exist

Error message

Collection '{collection_name}' does not exist

What it means

Raised in PostgresMemoryStore.upsert() when the internal __does_collection_exist(cur, collection_name) returns False inside the connection-pool transaction. ServiceResourceNotFoundError fires before the INSERT. In Postgres a 'collection' is a table in the configured schema; it must be created via create_collection first.

Source

Thrown at python/semantic_kernel/connectors/memory_stores/postgres/postgres_memory_store.py:172

        Returns:
            True if the collection exists; otherwise, False.
        """
        with self._connection_pool.connection() as conn, conn.cursor() as cur:
            return await self.__does_collection_exist(cur, collection_name)

    async def upsert(self, collection_name: str, record: MemoryRecord) -> str:
        """Upserts a record.

        Args:
            collection_name: The name of the collection to upsert the record into.
            record: The record to upsert.

        Returns:
            The unique database key of the record. In Pinecone, this is the record ID.
        """
        with self._connection_pool.connection() as conn, conn.cursor() as cur:
            if not await self.__does_collection_exist(cur, collection_name):
                raise ServiceResourceNotFoundError(f"Collection '{collection_name}' does not exist")
            cur.execute(
                SQL(
                    """
                        INSERT INTO {scm}.{tbl} (key, embedding, metadata, timestamp)
                        VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s)
                        ON CONFLICT (key) DO UPDATE
                        SET embedding = EXCLUDED.embedding,
                            metadata = EXCLUDED.metadata,
                            timestamp = EXCLUDED.timestamp
                        RETURNING key
                        """
                ).format(
                    scm=Identifier(self._schema),
                    tbl=Identifier(collection_name),
                ),
                (
                    record._id,
                    record.embedding.tolist(),

View on GitHub (pinned to c028a0c7dc)

Solutions

1. Call create_collection(collection_name, dimension_num) before upsert.
2. Guard with does_collection_exist and create on demand.
3. Verify self._schema matches the schema where the table lives.
4. Confirm the connection_string targets the right database.

Example fix

// before
await store.upsert("my_table", record)

// after
if not await store.does_collection_exist("my_table"):
    await store.create_collection("my_table", dimension_num=1536)
await store.upsert("my_table", record)

if not await store.does_collection_exist(collection_name):
    await store.create_collection(collection_name, dimension_num=1536)
await store.upsert(collection_name, record)

async def pg_collection_exists(store, name: str) -> bool:
    return await store.does_collection_exist(name)

from semantic_kernel.exceptions import ServiceResourceNotFoundError
try:
    await store.upsert(collection_name, record)
except ServiceResourceNotFoundError:
    await store.create_collection(collection_name, dimension_num=1536)
    await store.upsert(collection_name, record)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling upsert(collection_name, record) where the backing table does not exist in self._schema — never created, dropped, or wrong schema name.

Common situations: create_collection never run; schema mismatch (default 'public' vs custom); table dropped manually; cross-environment connection_string pointing at a different DB.

Related errors

• Upsert failed
• Collection '{collection_name}' does not exist
• Error upserting record: {upsert_response.message}
• Failed to create Postgres settings.
• Collection {collection_name} does not exist, cannot insert.

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/semantic-kernel@c028a0c7dc (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d04cf3a4fa38d20f. Report an issue: GitHub.