> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.risingwave.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Source error

> Diagnose source ingestion errors in RisingWave Cloud.

This warning indicates that a source has reported ingestion errors. It detects
new errors during the last minute or a newly observed source-error counter that
is already positive. On older supported versions, it also detects a positive
legacy source-error metric. There is no additional waiting period before the
alert fires. The alert identifies the source by its name and `source_id`.

Errors can delay ingestion or leave downstream results incomplete. This alert
covers source errors reported to RisingWave, including CDC reader startup and
runtime failures. It does not detect every upstream or Debezium-internal retry,
and it does not measure replication lag.

## Common triggers

* Upstream connectivity, authentication, or permission failures.
* An unavailable upstream database, broker, or replication endpoint.
* CDC reader failures, including unavailable replication logs or unsupported changes.
* Data parsing errors reported by the source.

## Diagnosis

1. Use the source name and ID in the alert to identify the affected source. If
   needed, connect to the database containing the source and run:

   ```sql theme={null}
   SELECT id, name
   FROM rw_catalog.rw_sources
   WHERE id = <source_id>;
   ```

   Replace `<source_id>` with the ID from the alert.
2. Inspect the source's recent errors and throughput. Ask support for compute
   logs if the error details are not available in your console.
3. Check upstream availability, credentials, permissions, network access, and
   connection limits. For CDC, also check the replication slot or binlog status
   and retention settings.
4. If metrics are available, check `user_source_error_cnt` for this source and
   project. Look for new increments rather than a nonzero historical total.
   On older supported versions, check `user_source_error` instead: this legacy
   metric reports errors since its previous collection and resets when collected.
   A positive value triggers the alert. Check CDC saved-offset progression and
   lag separately.

## Resolution

* Correct the upstream connectivity, authentication, or permission issue
  identified in the error message.
* Preserve replication logs needed by a lagging CDC source while investigating.
* For malformed records or unsupported schema changes, identify the affected
  record or DDL before changing the ingestion configuration.
* If the error points to a RisingWave failure, required replication logs are
  gone, or ingestion does not resume, contact the
  [RisingWave Cloud support team](mailto:cloud-support@risingwave-labs.com).
  Include the project, source ID and name, time window, and representative error
  messages, with credentials removed. Consult support before recreating a source
  or skipping data.

## Confirm recovery

With continuous metric collection, the counter-based condition clears when no
new errors are observed in the one-minute window and the newly observed counter
condition no longer applies. The legacy metric must also no longer report a
positive value. If both metric types are present, neither can still meet its
firing condition for the alert to clear. A missing metric can also cause the alert
expression to return no result; this is not evidence that ingestion recovered.

Confirm that errors have stopped and the source is making progress. For CDC,
check that its saved replication offset advances while the upstream produces
changes. Zero throughput by itself can also indicate an idle upstream.

## Availability

This rule requires RisingWave v1.8.0 or later and is enabled by default in alert
settings. It supports both the `user_source_error_cnt` counter and the legacy
`user_source_error` metric.

Notifications depend on the rule remaining enabled and the configured email
recipients. See
[Monitor messages and alerts](https://docs.risingwave.com/cloud/monitor-messages-and-alerts.md) for alert settings.

## Related topics

* [Manage sources](https://docs.risingwave.com/cloud/manage-sources.md)
* [Monitor messages and alerts](https://docs.risingwave.com/cloud/monitor-messages-and-alerts.md)
* [MySQL CDC binlog file lag](https://docs.risingwave.com/cloud/alert-playbooks/streaming/mysql-cdc-binlog-file-lag.md)
* [PostgreSQL CDC WAL lag](https://docs.risingwave.com/cloud/alert-playbooks/streaming/postgresql-cdc-wal-lag.md)


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