openai/openai-python · error · ValueError

Expected a non-empty value for `group_id` but received {grou

Error message

Expected a non-empty value for `group_id` but received {group_id!r}

What it means

The sync project Groups `retrieve` method requires a non-empty `group_id` for the path `/organization/projects/{project_id}/groups/{group_id}`. The SDK raises this ValueError when group_id is '', None, or whitespace, before any request is sent.

Source

Thrown at src/openai/resources/admin/organization/projects/groups/groups.py:136

    ) -> ProjectGroup:
        """
        Retrieves a project's group.

        Args:
          group_type: The type of group to retrieve.

          extra_headers: Send extra headers

          extra_query: Add additional query parameters to the request

          extra_body: Add additional JSON properties to the request

          timeout: Override the client-level default timeout for this request, in seconds
        """
        if not project_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `project_id` but received {project_id!r}")
        if not group_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `group_id` but received {group_id!r}")
        return self._get(
            path_template(
                "/organization/projects/{project_id}/groups/{group_id}", project_id=project_id, group_id=group_id
            ),
            options=make_request_options(
                extra_headers=extra_headers,
                extra_query=extra_query,
                extra_body=extra_body,
                timeout=timeout,
                query=maybe_transform({"group_type": group_type}, group_retrieve_params.GroupRetrieveParams),
                security={"admin_api_key_auth": True},
            ),
            cast_to=ProjectGroup,
        )

    def list(
        self,
        project_id: str,

View on GitHub (pinned to 9917c6e28e)

Solutions

Use the group's id, obtainable from groups.list output
Guard lookups with an explicit check and clear error message
Refresh cached group id mappings periodically

Example fix

# before
client.admin.organization.projects.groups.retrieve(project_id=pid, group_id=data.get("group"))

# after
gid = data.get("group")
if gid:
    client.admin.organization.projects.groups.retrieve(project_id=pid, group_id=gid)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

gid = data.get("group_id")
if not gid:
    raise ValueError("group_id is required")
client.admin.organization.projects.groups.retrieve(project_id=project_id, group_id=gid)

Type guard

def is_valid_group_id(v: str | None) -> bool:
    return isinstance(v, str) and bool(v.strip())

Try / catch

try:
    g = client.admin.organization.projects.groups.retrieve(project_id=pid, group_id=gid)
except ValueError as e:
    logger.error("bad group_id %r: %s", gid, e)
    return None

Prevention

Use group ids from groups.list, not names
Check for None from dict lookups before calling
Handle missing mappings explicitly

When it happens

Trigger: Calling groups.retrieve with group_id from a lookup that returned None; passing a group name instead of its id (e.g. 'grp_abc123').

Common situations: Confusing group name with group id; blank fields in data driving lookups; stale mappings after group deletion.

Understand the failure class

Background: Missing required parameter errors: what 'X is required' and 'the required X param is missing' mean, and how to fix them — this error's family across 27 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of openai/openai-python@9917c6e28e (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/115337695e5a3175. Report an issue: GitHub.