vitessio/vitess · error

invalid action %s; %s

Error message

invalid action %s; %s

What it means

A second default-case guard at the end of commandVDiff2 returns the same 'invalid action' message after the switch (a defensive/legacy path). Like 1033 it fires when the action verb is not one of the recognized VDiff actions, appending usage help.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtctl/vdiff2.go:217

		} else {
			displayVDiff2ScheduledResponse(wr, format, vdiffUUID.String(), action)
		}
	case vdiff.ShowAction:
		if output == nil {
			// should not happen
			return errors.New("invalid (empty) response from show command")
		}
		if err := displayVDiff2ShowResponse(wr, format, keyspace, workflowName, actionArg, output, *verbose); err != nil {
			return err
		}
	case vdiff.StopAction, vdiff.DeleteAction:
		uuidToDisplay := ""
		if actionArg != vdiff.AllActionArg {
			uuidToDisplay = vdiffUUID.String()
		}
		displayVDiff2ActionStatusResponse(wr, format, uuidToDisplay, action, vdiff.CompletedState)
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid action %s; %s", action, usage)
	}

	return nil
}

// region ****show response

// summary aggregates/selects the current state of the vdiff from all shards

type vdiffTableSummary struct {
	TableName       string
	State           vdiff.VDiffState
	RowsCompared    int64
	MatchingRows    int64
	MismatchedRows  int64
	ExtraRowsSource int64
	ExtraRowsTarget int64
	LastUpdated     string `json:"LastUpdated,omitempty"`

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. Read the usage text included in the error and use a valid action.
2. Correct typos in the action verb.
3. Align scripts with the action set of the installed Vitess version.
4. Use `show all` as the safe discovery action when unsure.

Example fix

// before
VDiff -- commerce.move.tables cancle bd2f3e5a-...
// after
VDiff -- commerce.move.tables stop bd2f3e5a-...

const known = new Set(["show", "stop", "resume", "delete"])
if (!known.has(action)) {
  throw new Error(`Unknown VDiff action '${action}' — check usage before invoking`)
}

function isKnownAction(a) {
  return typeof a === "string" && ["show", "stop", "resume", "delete"].includes(a)
}

try {
  runVDiff(`-- ${ks}.${wf} ${action} ${arg}`)
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes("invalid action")) {
    runVDiff("--help")
  } else throw e
}

When it happens

Trigger: Same as 1033: invoking VDiff with an action name outside the recognized set; also reachable if a case falls through without returning so control reaches the trailing default.

Common situations: Misspelled action verbs; scripts built against an older Vitess version whose action names changed; automation sending literal placeholders like `<action>`.

Related errors

• can only show a specific vdiff, please provide a valid UUID;
• can only %s a specific vdiff, please provide a valid UUID; v
• can only delete a specific vdiff, please provide a valid UUI
• no response received for vdiff show of %s.%s(%s)
• action argument %s not supported

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6a6b37f179d6fad3. Report an issue: GitHub.