pathwaycom/pathway · error · ValueError

Stream {name} has unknown sync_mode: {sync_mode}

Error message

Stream {name} has unknown sync_mode: {sync_mode}

What it means

Error "Stream {name} has unknown sync_mode: {sync_mode}" thrown in pathwaycom/pathway.

Source

Thrown at python/pathway/io/airbyte/__init__.py:97

            env_vars=copy.copy(env_vars),
            dependency_overrides=dependency_overrides,
        )
    else:
        logging.info(f"Running connector {connector_name} as a Docker image")
        source = DockerAirbyteSource(
            connector=source_config["docker_image"],
            config=source_config.get("config"),
            streams=streams,
            env_vars=copy.copy(env_vars),
        )

    # Run airbyte connector locally and check streams
    global_sync_mode = None
    for stream in source.configured_catalog["streams"]:
        name = stream["stream"]["name"]
        sync_mode = stream["sync_mode"]
        if sync_mode != INCREMENTAL_SYNC_MODE and sync_mode != FULL_REFRESH_SYNC_MODE:
            raise ValueError(f"Stream {name} has unknown sync_mode: {sync_mode}")
        global_sync_mode = global_sync_mode or sync_mode
        if global_sync_mode != sync_mode:
            raise ValueError(
                "All streams within the same 'pw.io.airbyte.read' must have "
                "the same 'sync_mode'"
            )

    return source


class _AirbyteRecordSchema(Schema):
    data: dict


def read(
    config_file_path: os.PathLike | str,
    streams: Sequence[str],
    *,

View on GitHub (pinned to fa2f74a464)

Solutions

1. Set a supported sync_mode for every stream (e.g. 'full_refresh' or 'incremental') in the Airbyte source configuration.

Example fix

config['streams'][0]['sync_mode'] = 'incremental'

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at python/pathway/io/airbyte/__init__.py:97 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of pathwaycom/pathway@fa2f74a464 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7aeab805fbbb0d70. Report an issue: GitHub.