HV00BERRORTier 2 — Caution✅ HIGH confidencefdw_invalid_handle
Category: Foreign Data Wrapper ErrorVersions: PostgreSQL 9.1+
What this means
A foreign data wrapper received an invalid or expired handle reference, typically a connection or statement handle that is no longer valid.
Why it happens
- 1Connection handle to remote server was closed or invalidated before use
- 2Statement handle was freed prematurely in FDW C code
- 3Handle value is NULL when a valid handle is required
- 4FDW lifecycle management bug — handle used after end of its valid scope
How to reproduce
FDW operations that rely on persistent handles to remote connections or statements
trigger — this will ERROR
SELECT * FROM foreign_table_with_broken_connection;ERROR: HV00B: fdw_invalid_handle
Fix 1: Recreate the foreign server connection
Handle became invalid due to remote server restart
fix
ALTER SERVER myserver OPTIONS (SET host 'newhost');Why this works
Forces FDW to establish a fresh connection with a valid handle
What not to do
✗
Do not ignore handle errors in FDW C code
Why it's wrong: Using an invalid handle leads to undefined behaviour and crashes
Sources
📚 Official docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/fdw-error-handling.html
🔧 Source ref: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/errcodes-appendix.html
Confidence assessment
✅ HIGH confidence
Standard FDW error code from official PostgreSQL appendix.
See also
🔗 Related errors
📄 Reference pages
Writing a Foreign Data Wrapper
⚙️ This error reference was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Examples are provided to illustrate common scenarios and may not cover every case. Always test fixes in a development environment before applying to production. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction →