mongodb/node-mongodb-native · error · MongoUnexpectedServerResponseError

Error with profile command

Error message

Error with profile command

What it means

Thrown as a MongoUnexpectedServerResponseError by ProfilingLevelOperation.handleOk when the server's 'profile' command response has ok !== 1. An ok value other than 1 means the command did not succeed at the protocol level, yet no error was surfaced through the normal error path, so the driver reports a generic profile-command error.

Solutions

1. Inspect server logs for why the profile command returned ok != 1 (often auth or permissions on admin-only command).
2. Ensure the connected user has privileges to run the profile command (typically requires admin/dbAdmin on the database).
3. Confirm the target is a genuine MongoDB deployment.

try {
  const level = await db.profilingLevel();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof MongoUnexpectedServerResponseError && /Error with profile command/.test(err.message)) {
    // likely permissions/auth; verify the user can run the profile command
  } else throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling db.profilingLevel() (which sends {profile: -1}) and the server returns ok=0 or another non-1 value in the response body, bypassing the wire-level error handling.

Common situations: Server-side refusal to run the profile command for non-obvious reasons; a proxy or mock returning a malformed ok field; driver/server version skew in response shaping.

Related errors

• Illegal profiling level value
• A collection name must be determined before getMore
• A collection name must be determined before killCursors
• An unexpected error type
• Azure endpoint did not return a value with only…

AI-assisted analysis of mongodb/node-mongodb-native@dce7939f86 (2026-08-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/651c7baa14823e18. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/operations/profiling_level.ts:43

  }

  override get commandName() {
    return 'profile' as const;
  }

  override buildCommandDocument(_connection: Connection): Document {
    return { profile: -1 };
  }

  override handleOk(response: InstanceType<typeof this.SERVER_COMMAND_RESPONSE_TYPE>): string {
    if (response.ok === 1) {
      const was = response.was;
      if (was === 0) return 'off';
      if (was === 1) return 'slow_only';
      if (was === 2) return 'all';
      throw new MongoUnexpectedServerResponseError(`Illegal profiling level value ${was}`);
    } else {
      throw new MongoUnexpectedServerResponseError('Error with profile command');
    }
  }
}

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