risingwavelabs/risingwave · error

intermediate state row has fewer columns ({}) than expected

Error message

intermediate state row has fewer columns ({}) than expected ({}) at call_index {}, state may be corrupted

What it means

The over-window (EOWC) executor persists intermediate state as a row laid out as `[partition keys..., call results...]`. When restoring, `load_intermediate_state` validates that the deserialized row has exactly `num_partition_key_cols + num_calls` columns before dispatching values to each call's state. Fewer columns means the persisted row cannot match the current plan, so it throws this corruption error.

Source

Thrown at src/stream/src/executor/over_window/eowc.rs:276

            for call_index in 0..num_calls {
                let state_col = num_partition_key_cols + call_index;
                if state_col < row.len() {
                    if let Some(state_bytes) = row.datum_at(state_col) {
                        let snapshot = decode_snapshot(state_bytes.into_bytea(), pk_serde)?;
                        debug!(
                            "Restoring intermediate state for partition {:?}, call_index {}, has_last_key: {}",
                            encoded_partition_key,
                            call_index,
                            snapshot.last_output_key.is_some()
                        );
                        partition
                            .states
                            .get_mut(call_index)
                            .unwrap()
                            .restore(snapshot)?;
                    }
                } else {
                    return Err(anyhow::anyhow!(
                        "intermediate state row has fewer columns ({}) than expected ({}) \
                        at call_index {}, state may be corrupted",
                        row.len(),
                        num_partition_key_cols + num_calls,
                        call_index
                    )
                    .into());
                }
            }
            partition.intermediate_state_row = Some(row);
        }
        Ok(())
    }

    /// Persist intermediate state snapshots to the state table.
    fn persist_intermediate_state(
        this: &mut ExecutorInner<S>,
        partition: &mut Partition,

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)

Solutions

1. Recreate the materialized view so intermediate state is rebuilt from source data
2. Ensure the query definition is unchanged since the state was written; do not ALTER the query while relying on persisted over-window state
3. Verify the backup/snapshot version matches the running RisingWave version before restoring
4. If reproducible with a stable schema, file an issue with the error details (it reports actual vs expected column counts)

// Before restore, verify the persisted state layout matches the current plan
let expected = num_partition_key_cols + num_calls;
if row.len() < expected {
    return Err(format!("state row has {} cols, need {}", row.len(), expected));
}

fn state_row_shape_ok(row_len: usize, expected: usize) -> bool {
    row_len >= expected
}

match restore_result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("intermediate state row has fewer columns") => {
        // State/plan mismatch: rebuild the MV from source data
        recreate_materialized_view();
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Recovery reads an intermediate-state snapshot row whose column count is below `num_partition_key_cols + num_calls` — e.g. state written by a plan with fewer window function calls or partition keys, then restored under a changed query definition.

Common situations: Altering the query definition (adding window calls or partition keys) while reusing old persisted state; restoring from a backup of a different RisingWave version; corrupt/truncated state-table rows.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• corrupt MATCH_RECOGNIZE state row: seq column must be a non-
• next offset {:?} should be later than current offset {:?}
• new item epoch {} does not match current chunk offset epoch
• new item epoch {} does not exceed barrier offset epoch {}
• Division by zero

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cdf0582cad2517b8. Report an issue: GitHub.