prestodb/presto · warning · ArrowException

ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR

ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR

Error message

Error getting schema for flight: 

What it means

getSchema performs FlightClient.getSchema(descriptor, callOptions) to retrieve an Arrow schema for a descriptor. An InterruptedException during the RPC is wrapped as ArrowException(ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR) with 'Error getting schema for flight: <msg>'. As with getFlightInfo, the interrupt flag is not restored before throwing.

Source

Thrown at presto-base-arrow-flight/src/main/java/com/facebook/plugin/arrow/BaseArrowFlightClientHandler.java:168

                    .map(this::createFlightClient)
                    .orElseGet(this::createFlightClient);
            return new ClientClosingFlightStream(
                    client.getStream(endpoint.getTicket(), getCallOptions(connectorSession)),
                    client);
        }
        catch (FlightRuntimeException | IOException | URISyntaxException e) {
            throw new ArrowException(ARROW_FLIGHT_CLIENT_ERROR, e.getMessage(), e);
        }
    }

    public Schema getSchema(ConnectorSession connectorSession, FlightDescriptor flightDescriptor)
    {
        try (FlightClient client = createFlightClient()) {
            CallOption[] callOptions = this.getCallOptions(connectorSession);
            return client.getSchema(flightDescriptor, callOptions).getSchema();
        }
        catch (InterruptedException e) {
            throw new ArrowException(ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR, "Error getting schema for flight: " + e.getMessage(), e);
        }
    }

    public abstract List<String> listSchemaNames(ConnectorSession session);

    public abstract List<SchemaTableName> listTables(ConnectorSession session, Optional<String> schemaName);

    protected abstract FlightDescriptor getFlightDescriptorForSchema(ConnectorSession session, String schemaName, String tableName);

    protected abstract FlightDescriptor getFlightDescriptorForTableScan(ConnectorSession session, ArrowTableLayoutHandle tableLayoutHandle);

    public Schema getSchemaForTable(ConnectorSession connectorSession, String schemaName, String tableName)
    {
        FlightDescriptor flightDescriptor = getFlightDescriptorForSchema(connectorSession, schemaName, tableName);
        return getSchema(connectorSession, flightDescriptor);
    }

    public FlightInfo getFlightInfoForTableScan(ConnectorSession session, ArrowTableLayoutHandle tableLayoutHandle)

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Rerun the metadata operation if interruption was from an intentional cancel.
2. Drain workers before restarts/deployments to avoid mid-RPC interrupts.
3. Check for overly aggressive cancellation/timeout settings in the deployment.
4. Restore the interrupt flag in custom subclasses to preserve cancellation semantics.
5. Ensure the Flight RPC completes quickly (server responsiveness) so the interruption window is small.

Example fix

// before
catch (InterruptedException e) {
    throw new ArrowException(ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR, "Error getting schema for flight: " + e.getMessage(), e);
}
// after
catch (InterruptedException e) {
    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
    throw new ArrowException(ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR, "Error getting schema for flight: " + e.getMessage(), e);
}

// Skip the RPC if the current thread is already interrupted
if (Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Thread already interrupted; not calling getSchema");
}

try {
    return handler.getSchema(session, descriptor);
} catch (ArrowException e) {
    if (e.getErrorCode().getCode() == ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR.getCode()
            && e.getCause() instanceof InterruptedException) {
        // only retry if interruption was spurious; otherwise honor cancellation
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getSchema (via getSchemaForTable, used by getColumnsList/listTableColumns) while the thread is interrupted — query cancellation, worker shutdown, or executor teardown during the schema RPC.

Common situations: SHOW COLUMNS / metadata resolution cancelled mid-query; Presto worker being decommissioned; system-level thread interrupts from overloaded schedulers.

Related errors

• ARROW_FLIGHT_METADATA_ERROR
• ARROW_FLIGHT_INFO_ERROR
• MISSING_SCHEMA
• NOT_SUPPORTED
• ACCUMULO_TABLE_DNE

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f11965c7d65d0dac. Report an issue: GitHub.