# INVALID_FIELD_PATH — search condition references unknown field path

Before executing a search, the server validates that every data-field path referenced by the condition (e.g. `$.price`, `$.profile.email`) resolves agains…

<em>cyoda-go version <a href="https://github.com/Cyoda/cyoda-go/releases/tag/v0.8.3">0.8.3</a></em>

# errors.INVALID_FIELD_PATH

## NAME

INVALID_FIELD_PATH — a search condition references one or more JSONPath field paths that are absent from the target model's locked schema.

## SYNOPSIS

HTTP: `400` `Bad Request`. Retryable: `no` (unless the model schema is then extended via re-import; the request is then valid against the new locked schema).

## DESCRIPTION

Before executing a search, the server validates that every data-field path referenced by the condition (e.g. `$.price`, `$.profile.email`) resolves against the target model's locked schema. Lifecycle paths (`state`, `previousTransition`, etc.) and meta paths (`$._meta.*`) bypass this check.

A path that is a **pure container** — a known structural interior with substructure (an object with child fields) but no scalar observation of its own — is also rejected this way when compared with a scalar operator: a container has no scalar value to compare against, so the client must navigate to a leaf sub-path. `IS_NULL`/`NOT_NULL` are exempt (they test presence, not a value) and remain valid on a container path. A path observed as **both** an object and a bare scalar across different entities is not a pure container — it is searchable via its scalar type, and the object-valued entities remain reachable through their child leaves.

If any referenced path is unknown, the server performs at most one bounded `RefreshAndGet` against the model store to recover from a stale cached schema. If the path is still unknown after the refresh, the request is rejected with HTTP 400 and `errorCode: "INVALID_FIELD_PATH"`. The response detail names every offending path so clients can correct the request without round-tripping to the support team.

A condition referencing an unrecognized lifecycle/meta filter field (not one of the known `state`, `creationDate`, `lastUpdateTime`, `transitionForLatestSave`/`previousTransition`, `transactionId`, `id` fields) is rejected the same way, on both `/search` and the grouped-statistics endpoint (`POST /api/entity/stats/{entityName}/{modelVersion}/query`). Grouped statistics does not have data-model schema access, so it enforces this meta-field check but not the schema-backed data-field-path check described above.

Programmatic clients should branch on `errorCode == "INVALID_FIELD_PATH"` (not on HTTP 400) to distinguish unknown-field-path errors from other 400s such as `BAD_REQUEST` (malformed JSON) or `CONDITION_TYPE_MISMATCH` (incompatible value type).

Common causes:

- The condition references a field that has not been declared in the model schema.
- The model has been re-imported with a different shape and the client's condition uses an old field name.
- The path is misspelled (e.g. `$.Name` vs `$.name`).

To resolve: verify the field path against the model's schema (`GET /api/model/.../export`), or extend the model schema and re-lock it before retrying.

## SEE ALSO

- errors
- errors.BAD_REQUEST
- errors.CONDITION_TYPE_MISMATCH
- search

## See also

- [`cyoda help errors`](/help/errors/) — Every error response from the Cyoda REST API carries a structured `errorCode` in the `properties` object. Multiple codes may share the same HTTP status. Programmatic handling keys on `errorCode`, not HTTP status.
- [`cyoda help errors BAD_REQUEST`](/help/errors/bad_request/) — Fired when the server cannot parse or structurally process the incoming request. Common triggers include invalid JSON, missing required fields, unsupported format specifiers, or mutually exclusive parameters being set simultaneously.
- [`cyoda help errors CONDITION_TYPE_MISMATCH`](/help/errors/condition_type_mismatch/) — Validation is parse-based: a comparison or range operand is rejected only when it parses into none of the field's declared DataTypes. For example `"abc"` against a DOUBLE field is rejected — it is not a number. A numeric-looking string against a polymorphic `[INTEGER, STRING]` field is accepted (it parses as STRING).
- [`cyoda help search`](/help/search/) — Search operates against a specific entity model `(entityName, modelVersion)`. Two modes are supported:

## Raw formats

- [`/help/errors/invalid_field_path.json`](/help/errors/invalid_field_path.json) — full descriptor (matches `GET /help/{topic}` envelope)
- [`/help/errors/invalid_field_path.md`](/help/errors/invalid_field_path.md) — body only