vitessio/vitess · error

failed to get source keyspace vschema: %v

Error message

failed to get source keyspace vschema: %v

What it means

After resolving the source topo server (internal or external), buildMaterializer fetches the source keyspace's vschema to compare primary vindexes. Failure to fetch this vschema is wrapped with this message and aborts workflow building, since vindex comparison is required for a valid materializer.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtctl/workflow/materializer.go:560

		}
		targetShards = targetShards2
	}
	if len(targetShards) == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("no target shards specified for workflow %s ", ms.Workflow)
	}

	sourceTs := mz.ts
	if ms.ExternalCluster != "" { // when the source is an external mysql cluster mounted using the Mount command
		externalTopo, err := mz.ts.OpenExternalVitessClusterServer(ctx, ms.ExternalCluster)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to open external topo: %v", err)
		}
		sourceTs = externalTopo
	}
	differentPVs := false
	sourceVSchema, err := sourceTs.GetVSchema(ctx, ms.SourceKeyspace)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get source keyspace vschema: %v", err)
	}
	differentPVs = primaryVindexesDiffer(ms, sourceVSchema.Keyspace, vschema.Keyspace)

	mz.targetVSchema = targetVSchema
	mz.sourceShards = sourceShards
	mz.targetShards = targetShards
	mz.isPartial = isPartial
	mz.primaryVindexesDiffer = differentPVs
	return nil
}

// validateEmptyTables checks if all tables are empty across all target shards.
// It queries each shard's primary tablet and if any non-empty table is found,
// returns an error containing a list of non-empty tables.
func (mz *materializer) validateEmptyTables() error {
	var mu sync.Mutex
	isNonEmptyTable := map[string]bool{}

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. Confirm the source keyspace exists (`vtctl GetVSchema <keyspace>`) and correct its name if misspelled
2. Apply a vschema on the source keyspace with `vtctl ApplyVSchema` if missing
3. Check topo server connectivity if the keyspace exists but reads fail

Example fix

// before
MoveTables --source-keyspace=commmerce
// after
MoveTables --source-keyspace=commerce

_, err := sourceTs.GetVSchema(ctx, sourceKeyspace)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("source keyspace %s has no vschema: %w", sourceKeyspace, err)
}

if err := createWorkflow(ctx, req); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to get source keyspace vschema") {
        // verify keyspace name and apply a vschema on the source
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: sourceTs.GetVSchema(ctx, ms.SourceKeyspace) fails during createWorkflowStreams or WorkflowAddTables — typically because the source keyspace does not exist or the topo read failed.

Common situations: Source keyspace typo; keyspace never created on the source (especially external clusters); topo server connectivity issues; vschema never applied on a freshly created keyspace.

Related errors

• SaveVSchema(%v) = %w
• GetVSchema(keyspace = %s): %w
• EnsureVSchema(%v) failed: %v
• RebuildSrvVSchema(%v) = %w
• table %s not found in vschema for keyspace %s

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2abffb4ef6ef98b5. Report an issue: GitHub.