vitessio/vitess · error · errors.ErrInvalidRequest

%w: request cannot be nil

Error message

%w: request cannot be nil

What it means

CreateKeyspace validates its request before doing any work and returns errors.ErrInvalidRequest wrapped with this message when the caller passes a nil *vtctldatapb.CreateKeyspaceRequest. It is a defensive guard so the RPC layer fails fast with a typed invalid-request error instead of panicking on a nil dereference.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtadmin/cluster/cluster.go:429

	defer span.Finish()

	AnnotateSpan(c, span)
	span.Annotate("keyspace", req.Keyspace)
	span.Annotate("uuid", req.Uuid)

	return c.Vtctld.CompleteSchemaMigration(ctx, req)
}

// CreateKeyspace creates a keyspace in the given cluster, proxying a
// CreateKeyspaceRequest to a vtctld in that cluster.
func (c *Cluster) CreateKeyspace(ctx context.Context, req *vtctldatapb.CreateKeyspaceRequest) (*vtadminpb.Keyspace, error) {
	span, ctx := trace.NewSpan(ctx, "Cluster.CreateKeyspace")
	defer span.Finish()

	AnnotateSpan(c, span)

	if req == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: request cannot be nil", errors.ErrInvalidRequest)
	}

	if req.Name == "" {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: keyspace name is required", errors.ErrInvalidRequest)
	}

	span.Annotate("keyspace", req.Name)

	if err := c.topoRWPool.Acquire(ctx); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("CreateKeyspace(%+v) failed to acquire topoRWPool: %w", req, err)
	}
	defer c.topoRWPool.Release()

	resp, err := c.Vtctld.CreateKeyspace(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. Pass a non-nil *vtctldatapb.CreateKeyspaceRequest, e.g. &vtctldatapb.CreateKeyspaceRequest{Name: "commerce"}.
2. If calling through an HTTP/JSON layer, ensure the request body deserializes into a request object rather than nil.
3. Guard your own call site with `if req == nil` before invoking CreateKeyspace.

Example fix

// before
resp, err := cluster.CreateKeyspace(ctx, nil)
// after
req := &vtctldatapb.CreateKeyspaceRequest{Name: "commerce"}
resp, err := cluster.CreateKeyspace(ctx, req)

if req == nil {
	return errors.New("CreateKeyspace requires a non-nil request")
}

resp, err := cluster.CreateKeyspace(ctx, req)
if err != nil {
	if errors.Is(err, vtadminerrors.ErrInvalidRequest) && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "request cannot be nil") {
		// fix the call site: construct a request object
		return fmt.Errorf("bug in caller: nil CreateKeyspaceRequest: %w", err)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Cluster.CreateKeyspace(ctx, nil) directly from Go code, or an RPC/HTTP handler that forwards a nil request into the vtadmin API without first checking it.

Common situations: Hand-written clients calling the vtadmin API Go package directly; gRPC handlers receiving a nil request message; tests invoking CreateKeyspace without constructing a request.

Related errors

• %w: keyspace name is required
• %w: keyspace name is required
• %w: shard name is required
• invalid joined path
• BaseKeyspace is required for SNAPSHOT keyspaces

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3c468481dda8423d. Report an issue: GitHub.