mongodb/node-mongodb-native · error · MongoInvalidArgumentError

Stream start (${options.start}) must not be greater than str

Error message

Stream start (${options.start}) must not be greater than stream end (${options.end})

What it means

handleStartOption enforces that start is not greater than end. A reversed range would produce a nonsensical byte window.

Source

Thrown at src/gridfs/download.ts:445

  });
}

function handleStartOption(
  stream: GridFSBucketReadStream,
  doc: Document,
  options: GridFSBucketReadStreamOptions
): number {
  if (options && options.start != null) {
    if (options.start > doc.length) {
      throw new MongoInvalidArgumentError(
        `Stream start (${options.start}) must not be more than the length of the file (${doc.length})`
      );
    }
    if (options.start < 0) {
      throw new MongoInvalidArgumentError(`Stream start (${options.start}) must not be negative`);
    }
    if (options.end != null && options.end < options.start) {
      throw new MongoInvalidArgumentError(
        `Stream start (${options.start}) must not be greater than stream end (${options.end})`
      );
    }

    stream.s.bytesRead = Math.floor(options.start / doc.chunkSize) * doc.chunkSize;
    stream.s.expected = Math.floor(options.start / doc.chunkSize);

    return options.start - stream.s.bytesRead;
  }
  throw new MongoInvalidArgumentError('Start option must be defined');
}

function handleEndOption(
  stream: GridFSBucketReadStream,
  doc: Document,
  cursor: FindCursor<GridFSChunk>,
  options: GridFSBucketReadStreamOptions
) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 3366c21a63)

Solutions

  1. Order the arguments so start <= end before opening the stream
  2. Normalize with { start: Math.min(a,b), end: Math.max(a,b) }
  3. Validate user-supplied ranges

Example fix

// before
{ start: 200, end: 100 }
// after
{ start: Math.min(a, b), end: Math.max(a, b) }
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (start > end) [start, end] = [end, start];

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: bucket.openDownloadStream(id, { start: 200, end: 100 }).

Common situations: Swapped arguments; bad slice math; user input ordered high-to-low.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of mongodb/node-mongodb-native@3366c21a63 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/d784bd48b0d739bf.json. Report an issue: GitHub.