openzipkin/zipkin · error · IllegalArgumentException

endTs <= 0

Error message

endTs <= 0

What it means

CassandraSpanStore.getDependencies throws IllegalArgumentException ('endTs <= 0') when a non-positive end timestamp is passed to the dependency-link query. endTs anchors the aggregation window (endTs - lookback .. endTs); zero or negative values mean an unset/misparsed timestamp, and the Cassandra dependencies query cannot bucket them, so it fails fast.

Source

Thrown at zipkin-storage/cassandra/src/main/java/zipkin2/storage/cassandra/CassandraSpanStore.java:292

  @Override public Call<List<String>> getServiceNames() {
    if (!searchEnabled) return Call.emptyList();
    return serviceNames.clone();
  }

  @Override public Call<List<String>> getRemoteServiceNames(String serviceName) {
    if (serviceName.isEmpty() || !searchEnabled || remoteServiceNames == null) {
      return Call.emptyList();
    }
    return remoteServiceNames.create(serviceName);
  }

  @Override public Call<List<String>> getSpanNames(String serviceName) {
    if (serviceName.isEmpty() || !searchEnabled) return Call.emptyList();
    return spanNames.create(serviceName);
  }

  @Override public Call<List<DependencyLink>> getDependencies(long endTs, long lookback) {
    if (endTs <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("endTs <= 0");
    if (lookback <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("lookback <= 0");
    return dependencies.create(endTs, lookback);
  }

  static final class TimestampRange {
    long startMillis;
    UUID startUUID;
    long endMillis;
    UUID endUUID;
  }

  TimestampRange timestampRange(QueryRequest request, int indexTtl) {
    long oldestData = Math.max(System.currentTimeMillis() - indexTtl * 1000L, 0); // >= 1970
    TimestampRange result = new TimestampRange();
    result.startMillis = Math.max((request.endTs() - request.lookback()), oldestData);
    result.startUUID = Uuids.startOf(result.startMillis);
    result.endMillis = Math.max(request.endTs(), oldestData);
    result.endUUID = Uuids.endOf(result.endMillis);

View on GitHub (pinned to 878ce2a1fa)

Solutions

1. Pass endTs as epoch milliseconds greater than zero, e.g. System.currentTimeMillis()
2. Default omitted endTs to now at the caller: endTs != 0 ? endTs : System.currentTimeMillis()
3. Verify lookback is also positive (it is checked separately) and in millis

Example fix

// before
long endTs = 0; // 'unset'
Call<List<DependencyLink>> links = spanStore.getDependencies(endTs, 86400000L);

// after
long endTs = System.currentTimeMillis();
Call<List<DependencyLink>> links = spanStore.getDependencies(endTs, 86400000L);

long endTs = (endTsParam > 0) ? endTsParam : System.currentTimeMillis();
long lookback = (lookbackParam > 0) ? lookbackParam : 86400000L;
if (endTs <= 0 || lookback <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("endTs and lookback must be positive epoch millis");

When it happens

Trigger: Calling storage.spanStore().getDependencies(0, 86400000) or getDependencies(-1, ...) directly, or from code that defaulted endTs to 0 because no explicit end time was provided.

Common situations: Passing seconds instead of milliseconds (looks positive but tiny, or 0 for 'now' in seconds at epoch), unit confusion between microseconds and millis, or copying the Zipkin query API's optional endTs parameter into storage without defaulting it to System.currentTimeMillis().

Related errors

• Start bucket ({startBucket}) > end bucket ({endBucket})
• maxConnections <= 0
• maxTraceCols <= 0
• indexFetchMultiplier <= 0
• %s contains an invalid IPv6 literal

AI-assisted analysis of openzipkin/zipkin@878ce2a1fa (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9485e383e8d258d1. Report an issue: GitHub.