Weaviate Stuck on 'Schema Catching Up' at Startup

How to fix it

Try these in order — the most common fix is first.

1. 1. Give startup more time

   Copy steps
   1. Set RAFT_BOOTSTRAP_TIMEOUT higher (for example 900)
   2. Extend the startup probe in Kubernetes
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. 2. Upgrade

   Copy steps
   1. Versions 1.27.4+, 1.26.11+ and 1.25.26+ speed up schema rebuilds
   2. For 'waiting for database to be restored' upgrade to 1.27.27+, 1.28.16+, 1.29.8+ or 1.30.4+
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

'Schema catching up: applying log entry' never finishes; pods restart; startup probes fail. Or 'waiting for database to be restored'.

Why it happens

• Large schemas with many accumulated log entries exceed RAFT_BOOTSTRAP_TIMEOUT (600s)
• Older versions with a schema catch-up regression

This guide also covers

• weaviate schema catching up
• weaviate waiting for database to be restored
• weaviate stuck on startup

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