nestjs/nest · error · Error

Not initialized. Please call the "listen"/"startAllMicroserv

Error message

Not initialized. Please call the "listen"/"startAllMicroservices" method before accessing the server.

What it means

Error "Not initialized. Please call the "listen"/"startAllMicroservices" method before accessing the server." thrown in nestjs/nest.

Source

Thrown at packages/microservices/server/server-redis.ts:281

    if (this.isManuallyClosed) {
      return undefined;
    }
    if (!this.getOptionsProp(this.options, 'retryAttempts')) {
      this.logger.error(
        'Redis connection closed and retry attempts not specified',
      );
      return;
    }
    if (times > this.getOptionsProp(this.options, 'retryAttempts', 0)) {
      this.logger.error(`Retry time exhausted`);
      return;
    }
    return this.getOptionsProp(this.options, 'retryDelay', 5000);
  }

  public unwrap<T>(): T {
    if (!this.pubClient || !this.subClient) {
      throw new Error(
        'Not initialized. Please call the "listen"/"startAllMicroservices" method before accessing the server.',
      );
    }
    return [this.pubClient, this.subClient] as T;
  }

  public on<
    EventKey extends keyof RedisEvents = keyof RedisEvents,
    EventCallback extends RedisEvents[EventKey] = RedisEvents[EventKey],
  >(event: EventKey, callback: EventCallback) {
    if (this.subClient && this.pubClient) {
      this.subClient.on(event, (...args: [any]) => callback('sub', ...args));
      this.pubClient.on(event, (...args: [any]) => callback('pub', ...args));
    } else {
      this.pendingEventListeners.push({ event, callback });
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 6ec0e2783d)

Solutions

1. Call app.listen() or app.startAllMicroservices() before accessing the Redis server instance.
2. Await listen() so the Redis connection is established before any access.

Example fix

const app = await NestFactory.createMicroservice(AppModule, opts);
await app.listen();
const server = app.get(ServerRedis);

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/microservices/server/server-redis.ts:281 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of nestjs/nest@6ec0e2783d (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/8aec8385e564bd20.json. Report an issue: GitHub.