nats-io/nats-server · error

account missing

Error message

account missing

What it means

ErrMissingAccount is returned when an Account method that requires a receiver account is called on a nil *Account. Functions like AddServiceExport (accounts.go:1222), TrackServiceExportWithSampling (accounts.go:1274), AddServiceImport, AddStreamExport and related mapping APIs all begin with `if a == nil { return ErrMissingAccount }`, because exports/imports cannot be configured on a non-existent account.

Source

Thrown at server/errors.go:111

	// ErrLeafNodeDisabled is when we disable leafnodes.
	ErrLeafNodeDisabled = errors.New("leafnodes disabled")

	// ErrConnectedToWrongPort represents an error condition when a connection is attempted
	// to the wrong listen port (for instance a LeafNode to a client port, etc...)
	ErrConnectedToWrongPort = errors.New("attempted to connect to wrong port")

	// ErrAccountExists is returned when an account is attempted to be registered
	// but already exists.
	ErrAccountExists = errors.New("account exists")

	// ErrBadAccount represents a malformed or incorrect account.
	ErrBadAccount = errors.New("bad account")

	// ErrReservedAccount represents a reserved account that can not be created.
	ErrReservedAccount = errors.New("reserved account")

	// ErrMissingAccount is returned when an account does not exist.
	ErrMissingAccount = errors.New("account missing")

	// ErrMissingService is returned when an account does not have an exported service.
	ErrMissingService = errors.New("service missing")

	// ErrBadServiceType is returned when latency tracking is being applied to non-singleton response types.
	ErrBadServiceType = errors.New("bad service response type")

	// ErrBadSampling is returned when the sampling for latency tracking is not 1 >= sample <= 100.
	ErrBadSampling = errors.New("bad sampling percentage, should be 1-100")

	// ErrAccountValidation is returned when an account has failed validation.
	ErrAccountValidation = errors.New("account validation failed")

	// ErrAccountExpired is returned when an account has expired.
	ErrAccountExpired = errors.New("account expired")

	// ErrNoAccountResolver is returned when we attempt an update but do not have an account resolver.
	ErrNoAccountResolver = errors.New("account resolver missing")

View on GitHub (pinned to 3a66a489d2)

Solutions

1. Check the error from s.LookupAccount / account creation before using the returned *Account
2. Guard account configuration code with a nil check on the account
3. Fix the account name or ensure the account is registered before configuring exports/imports

Example fix

// before
acc, _ := s.LookupAccount("svc")
acc.AddServiceExport("req", nil) // panics/returns ErrMissingAccount if acc is nil
// after
acc, err := s.LookupAccount("svc")
if err != nil { return err }
if err := acc.AddServiceExport("req", nil); err != nil { return err }

acc, err := s.LookupAccount(name)
if err != nil { return err }
if acc == nil { return fmt.Errorf("account %q not found", name) }

func hasAccount(a *server.Account) bool { return a != nil }

if err := acc.AddServiceExport(subj, nil); err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, server.ErrMissingAccount) { /* account was nil: fix lookup */ }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling a.AddServiceExport(...), a.TrackServiceExport(...), a.AddServiceImport(...), a.AddStreamExport(...) or a.AddMapping-style APIs where a is a nil *Account — usually because an earlier LookupAccount failed and its error was ignored. Also reported from test paths like TestCrossAccountRequestReply when account setup silently failed.

Common situations: Embedded-NATS setup code that ignores the error from LookupAccount/RegisterAccount and then configures mappings on the nil account; typos in account names at bootstrap; accounts removed by resolver updates before mapping configuration runs.

Related errors

• bad account
• account exists
• reserved account
• account jwt not found
• auth callout violation: auth callout response is not for exp

AI-assisted analysis of nats-io/nats-server@3a66a489d2 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5b1d0e11c4592c4b. Report an issue: GitHub.