risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · ErrorCode::InternalError

internal error

Error message

internal error: {0}

What it means

This is RisingWave's generic `ErrorCode::InternalError` variant, a catch-all for invariant violations inside the frontend that do not map to a more specific error code. It signals a bug or an unexpected internal state, not a user-facing SQL problem. The message embeds a free-form `String` describing what the internal code found surprising.

Solutions

1. Read the embedded message to identify the violated invariant and the file that produced it
2. Capture the full error report/backtrace (RwError carries backtrace) and the SQL statement that triggered it
3. Search the RisingWave repo or issue tracker for the message text to find a known bug
4. Work around by reformulating the SQL (e.g. different expression or join order) if a planner path is implicated
5. File a bug with the statement, schema, and backtrace if reproducible

Example fix

// before (code producing the error)
match node { Node::A => .., Node::B => .. } // missing arm -> internal_error at runtime
// after
match node { Node::A => .., Node::B => .., Node::C => handle_c() }

null

fn is_internal_error(e: &risingwave_common::error::RwError) -> bool { matches!(e.get_code(), risingwave_common::error::ErrorCode::InternalError(_)) }

match result { Err(e) if matches!(e.get_code(), ErrorCode::InternalError(_)) => { log::error!("RW internal error: {}", e); report_bug(e); }, other => other }

When it happens

Trigger: Any frontend code path calls `internal_error!`/`ErrorCode::InternalError` when an assumption is violated: unhandled enum arms, impossible states after planning, failed conversions that 'cannot happen', or bugs surfaced via macros like `internal_error!("...")`.

Common situations: Hitting a planner/binder code path with an unsupported but unguarded input, upgrading RisingWave and triggering a previously unreached code path, or a genuine bug where a `match` lacked a case.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

• {0}
• {0}
• ALTER ICEBERG TABLE does not support SECRET or CONNECTION…
• BatchError
• Bind error

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d02d4ffdea5020fc. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/frontend/src/error.rs:43

use risingwave_pb::PbFieldNotFound;
use risingwave_rpc_client::error::{RpcError, ToTonicStatus, TonicStatusWrapper};
use thiserror::Error;
use thiserror_ext::AsReport;
use tokio::task::JoinError;

use crate::expr::CastError;

/// The error type for the frontend crate, acting as the top-level error type for the
/// entire RisingWave project.
// TODO(error-handling): this is migrated from the `common` crate, and there could
// be some further refactoring to do:
// - Some variants are never constructed.
// - Some variants store a type-erased `BoxedError` to resolve the reverse dependency.
//   It's not necessary anymore as the error type is now defined at the top-level.
#[derive(Error, thiserror_ext::ReportDebug, thiserror_ext::Box, thiserror_ext::Macro)]
#[thiserror_ext(newtype(name = RwError, backtrace), macro(path = "crate::error"))]
pub enum ErrorCode {
    #[error("internal error: {0}")]
    InternalError(String),
    // TODO: unify with the above
    #[error(transparent)]
    Uncategorized(
        #[from]
        #[backtrace]
        anyhow::Error,
    ),
    #[error("connector error: {0}")]
    ConnectorError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,
    ),
    #[error(transparent)]
    NotImplemented(#[from] NotImplemented),
    // Tips: Use this only if it's intended to reject the query
    #[error("Not supported: {0}\nHINT: {1}")]

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