vitessio/vitess · error

invalid tablet type %v: %v

Error message

invalid tablet type %v: %v

What it means

parseTabletType converts a string CLI argument into a topodatapb.TabletType and validates it is a parseable type name. This error is returned when topoproto.ParseTabletType cannot recognize the string, meaning the user supplied a value that is not a valid Vitess tablet type.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtctl/vtctl.go:905

// to tablet aliases.
func tabletParamsToTabletAliases(params []string) ([]*topodatapb.TabletAlias, error) {
	result := make([]*topodatapb.TabletAlias, len(params))
	var err error
	for i, param := range params {
		result[i], err = topoproto.ParseTabletAlias(param)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	}
	return result, nil
}

// parseTabletType parses the string tablet type and verifies
// it is an accepted one
func parseTabletType(param string, types []topodatapb.TabletType) (topodatapb.TabletType, error) {
	tabletType, err := topoproto.ParseTabletType(param)
	if err != nil {
		return topodatapb.TabletType_UNKNOWN, fmt.Errorf("invalid tablet type %v: %v", param, err)
	}
	if !topoproto.IsTypeInList(topodatapb.TabletType(tabletType), types) {
		return topodatapb.TabletType_UNKNOWN, fmt.Errorf("type %v is not one of: %v", tabletType, strings.Join(topoproto.MakeStringTypeList(types), " "))
	}
	return tabletType, nil
}

func commandInitTablet(ctx context.Context, wr *wrangler.Wrangler, subFlags *pflag.FlagSet, args []string) error {
	dbNameOverride := subFlags.String("db_name_override", "", "Overrides the name of the database that the vttablet uses")
	allowUpdate := subFlags.Bool("allow_update", false, "Use this flag to force initialization if a tablet with the same name already exists. Use with caution.")
	allowPrimaryOverride := subFlags.Bool("allow_master_override", false, "Use this flag to force initialization if a tablet is created as primary, and a primary for the keyspace/shard already exists. Use with caution.")
	createShardAndKeyspace := subFlags.Bool("parent", false, "Creates the parent shard and keyspace if they don't yet exist")
	hostname := subFlags.String("hostname", "", "The server on which the tablet is running")
	mysqlHost := subFlags.String("mysql_host", "", "The mysql host for the mysql server")
	mysqlPort := subFlags.Int("mysql-port", 0, "The mysql port for the mysql server")
	port := subFlags.Int("port", 0, "The main port for the vttablet process")
	grpcPort := subFlags.Int("grpc-port", 0, "The gRPC port for the vttablet process")
	keyspace := subFlags.String("keyspace", "", "The keyspace to which this tablet belongs")

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. Use one of the valid type strings: MASTER, REPLICA, RDONLY, SPARE, BACKUP, RESTORE, DRAINED, etc.
2. Check spelling and casing against `vtctl ChangeTabletType --help`
3. Remove stray whitespace/special characters from the argument
4. For older tooling, replace deprecated terms (e.g. 'slave') with current names (REPLICA)

Example fix

// before
vtctl ChangeTabletType zone1-0000000100 REPLCA
// after
vtctl ChangeTabletType zone1-0000000100 REPLICA

VALID_TYPES="MASTER REPLICA RDONLY SPARE BACKUP RESTORE DRAINED EXPERIMENTAL"
validate_tablet_type() {
  case "$1" in
    $VALID_TYPES) return 0 ;;
    *) echo "invalid tablet type: $1"; return 1 ;;
  esac
}
validate_tablet_type "$TYPE" || exit 1

if err := runVtctl("ChangeTabletType", alias, tt); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "invalid tablet type") {
        // surface the accepted type list to the operator
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a misspelled or unknown type string to commandInitTablet, commandChangeTabletType, or commandListAllTablets, e.g. `vtctl ChangeTabletType alias REPLCA` — ParseTabletType fails and this wraps that error.

Common situations: Typos in type names (REPLICA, RDONLY); using MySQL-ish terms like 'slave' in versions where only REPLICA is accepted; extra whitespace or wrong casing.

Related errors

• type %v is not one of: %v
• the <tablet alias> and <db type> arguments are required for
• invalid type transition %v: %v -> %v
• invalid value for on-ddl: %v
• invalid action for Migrate: %s

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d7e70589448d0bc8. Report an issue: GitHub.