spring-projects/spring-ai · error · RuntimeException

Failed to delete documents because:

Error message

Failed to delete documents because: 

What it means

WeaviateVectorStore.doDelete(List<String> idList) issues a batch delete by document IDs. If the delete response has top-level errors, their joined messages are thrown as a RuntimeException. The delete round-trip itself failed rather than matching zero documents.

Source

Thrown at vector-stores/spring-ai-weaviate-store/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/vectorstore/weaviate/WeaviateVectorStore.java:289

		Result<BatchDeleteResponse> result = this.weaviateClient.batch()
			.objectsBatchDeleter()
			.withClassName(this.options.getObjectClass())
			.withConsistencyLevel(this.consistencyLevel.name())
			.withWhere(WhereFilter.builder()
				.path("id")
				.operator(Operator.ContainsAny)
				.valueString(documentIds.toArray(new String[0]))
				.build())
			.run();

		if (result.hasErrors()) {
			String errorMessages = result.getError()
				.getMessages()
				.stream()
				.map(WeaviateErrorMessage::getMessage)
				.collect(Collectors.joining(","));
			throw new RuntimeException("Failed to delete documents because: \n" + errorMessages);
		}
	}

	@Override
	protected void doDelete(Filter.Expression filterExpression) {
		Assert.notNull(filterExpression, "Filter expression must not be null");

		try {
			// Use similarity search with empty query to find documents matching the
			// filter
			SearchRequest searchRequest = SearchRequest.builder()
				.query("") // empty query since we only want filter matches
				.filterExpression(filterExpression)
				.topK(10000) // large enough to get all matches
				.similarityThresholdAll()
				.build();

			List<Document> matchingDocs = similaritySearch(searchRequest);

View on GitHub (pinned to 98a7beda4f)

Solutions

1. Check the joined messages after 'because: \n' in the exception for the underlying Weaviate cause.
2. Verify the document IDs are valid UUIDs that exist in the configured objectClass.
3. Confirm server connectivity and credentials as with add failures.
4. Ensure the Weaviate class name configured on the store matches the one the documents were written to.

// confirm the class exists before deleting
GET {weaviateUrl}/v1/schema/{className} -> 200 expected; also verify IDs are UUIDs before calling delete

try { vectorStore.delete(ids); } catch (RuntimeException e) { log.error("Weaviate batch delete failed: {}", e.getMessage(), e); }

When it happens

Trigger: VectorStore.delete(List<String>) when the Weaviate batch delete call returns Result.hasErrors() — server unreachable, invalid session/API key, or malformed delete request referencing an unknown class.

Common situations: Deleting with IDs from a different store/class; Weaviate restarted with a wiped schema; network interruption between add and delete; wrong API key lacking delete permissions.

Related errors

• Failed to delete documents by filter
• Failed to delete documents by filter
• Failed to delete documents by filter
• Delete operation failed
• Failed to delete documents by filter

AI-assisted analysis of spring-projects/spring-ai@98a7beda4f (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/78090857ab1d9b82. Report an issue: GitHub.