What causes "Schema %s not found" in prestodb/presto?

Create the schema first: CREATE SCHEMA iceberg.my_schema, then rerun register_table.

prestodb/presto · error · SchemaNotFoundException

Schema %s not found

Error message

Schema %s not found

What it means

The register_table procedure must register the table into an existing Iceberg schema. Before touching metadata files, doRegisterTable checks metadata.schemaExists(schema) and throws SchemaNotFoundException ('Schema %s not found') when the schema does not exist in the catalog. This prevents accidentally registering a table under a misspelled or not-yet-created schema.

Source

Thrown at presto-iceberg/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/iceberg/procedure/RegisterTableProcedure.java:109

                        new Argument("metadata_location", VARCHAR),
                        new Argument("metadata_file", VARCHAR, false, null),
                        new Argument("delete_data_on_drop", BOOLEAN, false, false)),
                REGISTER_TABLE.bindTo(this));
    }

    public void registerTable(ConnectorSession clientSession, String schema, String table, String metadataLocation, String metadataFile, Boolean deleteDataOnDrop)
    {
        try (ThreadContextClassLoader ignored = new ThreadContextClassLoader(getClass().getClassLoader())) {
            doRegisterTable(clientSession, schema, table, metadataLocation, Optional.ofNullable(metadataFile), requireNonNull(deleteDataOnDrop, "deleteDataOnDrop is null"));
        }
    }

    private void doRegisterTable(ConnectorSession clientSession, String schema, String table, String metadataLocation, Optional<String> metadataFile, boolean deleteDataOnDrop)
    {
        IcebergAbstractMetadata metadata = (IcebergAbstractMetadata) metadataFactory.create();
        SchemaTableName schemaTableName = new SchemaTableName(schema, table);
        if (!metadata.schemaExists(clientSession, schemaTableName.getSchemaName())) {
            throw new SchemaNotFoundException(schemaTableName.getSchemaName());
        }

        metadataLocation = stripTrailingSlash(metadataLocation);
        Path metadataDirectory = metadataLocation.endsWith(METADATA_FOLDER_NAME) ?
                new Path(metadataLocation) : new Path(metadataLocation, METADATA_FOLDER_NAME);
        Path metadataPath = metadataFile
                .map(metadataFileName -> new Path(metadataDirectory, metadataFileName))
                .orElseGet(() -> resolveLatestMetadataLocation(
                        clientSession,
                        getFileSystem(clientSession, hdfsEnvironment, schemaTableName, metadataDirectory),
                        metadataDirectory));

        metadata.registerTable(clientSession, schemaTableName, metadataPath, deleteDataOnDrop);
    }

    public static FileSystem getFileSystem(ConnectorSession clientSession, HdfsEnvironment hdfsEnvironment, SchemaTableName schemaTableName, Path location)
    {
        HdfsContext hdfsContext = new HdfsContext(

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

Create the schema first: CREATE SCHEMA iceberg.my_schema, then rerun register_table.
Fix the schema name typo; confirm exact name via SHOW SCHEMAS FROM <catalog>.
Ensure you are connected to the correct catalog where the schema exists.
Check schema name casing matches exactly (some catalogs are case-sensitive).

Example fix

// before
CALL system.register_table(schema => 'analyticss', table => 'events', metadata_location => '...')
// after
CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS analytics;
CALL system.register_table(schema => 'analytics', table => 'events', metadata_location => '...')

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

-- ensure schema exists before register_table
CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS iceberg.analytics;
SHOW SCHEMAS FROM iceberg;

Try / catch

CALL ... ; -- on SchemaNotFoundException, create schema then rerun
-- in client code:
try { registerTable(schema, table, metaLoc); }
catch ( SQLException e ) { if (e.getMessage().contains("not found")) { createSchema(schema); registerTable(schema, table, metaLoc); } }

Prevention

Run CREATE SCHEMA before any register_table call.
Copy the schema name from SHOW SCHEMAS to avoid typos.
Confirm you are on the catalog where the schema lives.
Watch schema-name casing.

When it happens

Trigger: CALL system.register_table(schema => '...', table => '...', metadata_location => '...') where the schema name does not exist in the Iceberg catalog — a typo, or running the procedure before CREATE SCHEMA.

Common situations: Typo in the schema parameter; procedure executed against a different catalog than where the schema was created; schema created in another environment/tenant; case-sensitivity mismatch in schema names.

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/475c9709c5d84f41. Report an issue: GitHub.