passbolt/passbolt_api · critical · InternalErrorException

The metadata private key could not be updated. Please try…

Error message

The metadata private key could not be updated. Please try again later.

What it means

InternalErrorException (500) thrown when the save of the patched metadata private key returns false without entity validation errors, i.e. an unexpected persistence failure. The message tells the caller it is a transient server-side issue and to retry later.

Solutions

Retry the request after a short delay, as the message suggests.
Check server logs (cake error logs / database logs) for the underlying DB error.
Verify database connectivity, credentials, and that migrations are up to date (`ddev refresh`).
If persistent, inspect MetadataPrivateKeysTable beforeSave rules and DB constraints for hidden failures.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

catch (InternalErrorException) { // 500
  await delay(backoff++);
  return retryUpdate(id, payload, maxRetries = 3);
}

Prevention

Implement exponential backoff retry for 500s
Monitor server DB health and logs
Keep schema migrations in sync with the server version

When it happens

Trigger: update() calls save() which returns false with no validation errors — e.g. database connection failure, lock timeout, transaction/trigger failure, or constraint violation not surfaced as a validation error.

Common situations: Database server overloaded or temporarily down; migration drift between server version and schema; DB user lacking write privileges; deadlock under concurrent updates.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of passbolt/passbolt_api@31c1bbc10f (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bde8f46c12c63479. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/PassboltCe/Metadata/src/Service/MetadataPrivateKeysUpdateService.php:92

            'modified_by' => $uac->getId(),
        ], [
            'accessibleFields' => [
                'data' => true,
                'modified_by' => true,
            ],
        ]);
        if (!empty($metadataPrivateKey->getErrors())) {
            $this->handleValidationErrors($metadataPrivateKey, $metadataPrivateKeysTable);
        }

        $updated = $metadataPrivateKeysTable->save($metadataPrivateKey);
        if ($updated === false) {
            if (!empty($metadataPrivateKey->getErrors())) {
                $this->handleValidationErrors($metadataPrivateKey, $metadataPrivateKeysTable);
            }
            $msg = __('The metadata private key could not be updated.') . ' ';
            $msg .= __('Please try again later.');
            throw new InternalErrorException($msg);
        }

        return $updated;
    }

    /**
     * Handle validation or build rules failure
     *
     * @param \Passbolt\Metadata\Model\Entity\MetadataPrivateKey $entity that is failing the validation
     * @param \Passbolt\Metadata\Model\Table\MetadataPrivateKeysTable $table table
     * @throws \App\Error\Exception\ValidationException
     * @return void
     */
    public function handleValidationErrors(MetadataPrivateKey $entity, MetadataPrivateKeysTable $table): void
    {
        if (Configure::read('debug')) {
            Log::error(json_encode($entity->getErrors()));
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 31c1bbc10f)