openai/openai-python · error · ValueError

Expected a non-empty value for `run_id` but received {run_id

Error message

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

What it means

The sync Runs.retrieve() method validates that `run_id` is a non-empty string (checked after `thread_id`). An empty, None, or falsy value raises ValueError before any request is sent.

Source

Thrown at src/openai/resources/beta/threads/runs/runs.py:642

        extra_body: Body | None = None,
        timeout: float | httpx2.Timeout | None | NotGiven = not_given,
    ) -> Run:
        """
        Retrieves a run.

        Args:
          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 thread_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `thread_id` but received {thread_id!r}")
        if not run_id:
            raise ValueError(f"Expected a non-empty value for `run_id` but received {run_id!r}")
        extra_headers = {"OpenAI-Beta": "assistants=v2", **(extra_headers or {})}
        return self._get(
            path_template("/threads/{thread_id}/runs/{run_id}", thread_id=thread_id, run_id=run_id),
            options=make_request_options(
                extra_headers=extra_headers,
                extra_query=extra_query,
                extra_body=extra_body,
                timeout=timeout,
                security={"bearer_auth": True},
            ),
            cast_to=Run,
        )

    @typing_extensions.deprecated("The Assistants API is deprecated in favor of the Responses API")
    def update(
        self,
        run_id: str,
        *,

View on GitHub (pinned to 9917c6e28e)

Solutions

  1. Pass `run.id` from the created run object
  2. Ensure the create call completed and returned before polling
  3. Persist and reload both thread_id and run_id together

Example fix

// before
retrieved = client.beta.threads.runs.retrieve(thread_id=thread_id, run_id="")

// after
created = client.beta.threads.runs.create(thread_id=thread_id, assistant_id=assistant_id)
retrieved = client.beta.threads.runs.retrieve(thread_id=thread_id, run_id=created.id)
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if not run_id:
    raise ValueError("run_id is required to retrieve a run")

Type guard

def is_valid_run_id(run_id: object) -> bool:
    return isinstance(run_id, str) and run_id.startswith("run_")

Try / catch

try:
    run = client.beta.threads.runs.retrieve(thread_id=thread_id, run_id=run_id)
except ValueError as e:
    logging.warning("invalid run_id: %s", e)
    raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `client.beta.threads.runs.retrieve(thread_id="thread_...", run_id="")` or polling with a run variable whose id is empty/None.

Common situations: Passing a Run object instead of `run.id`; polling before the create call returned (racing); run id lost during persistence/serialization between jobs.

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/34e909c7ef915279. Report an issue: GitHub.