What causes INVALID_ARGUMENT?

A Spark configuration key or value in the cluster config is not valid for the selected DBR version. A cluster policy violation — a policy constraint rejected a configuration value. An init script received an argument or environment variable that it cannot parse. An API call to create or modify the cluster passed an unsupported field or value. A recently updated cluster configuration introduced an invalid Spark property

How do I fix INVALID_ARGUMENT?

Open the cluster in the Databricks UI, go to the Event Log tab, and find the termination event — it typically includes the exact key or value that was rejected.. Compare recent changes to the cluster configuration against working history: check Spark config keys, instance types, and init script parameters for anything modified in the last deploy.. In the cluster configuration, open the Policy section and verify no policy constraint is blocking the configured instance type or Spark property.. Cross-reference each custom Spark configuration key against the DBR release notes for the cluster's runtime version — keys valid in DBR 12 may be unsupported or renamed in DBR 14.. If the cluster is created via API or Terraform, run the create/edit payload through the Databricks Clusters API schema validator or test with a minimal config to isolate the offending field.

High severityclusterDatabricks →

Databricks Error:
INVALID_ARGUMENT

What does this error mean?

A Databricks cluster was terminated because it received an invalid argument — typically from a misconfigured Spark config, cluster policy, init script parameter, or API call with an unsupported value.

Common causes

1A Spark configuration key or value in the cluster config is not valid for the selected DBR version
2A cluster policy violation — a policy constraint rejected a configuration value
3An init script received an argument or environment variable that it cannot parse
4An API call to create or modify the cluster passed an unsupported field or value
5A recently updated cluster configuration introduced an invalid Spark property

How to fix it

1Open the cluster in the Databricks UI, go to the Event Log tab, and find the termination event — it typically includes the exact key or value that was rejected.
2Compare recent changes to the cluster configuration against working history: check Spark config keys, instance types, and init script parameters for anything modified in the last deploy.
3In the cluster configuration, open the Policy section and verify no policy constraint is blocking the configured instance type or Spark property.
4Cross-reference each custom Spark configuration key against the DBR release notes for the cluster's runtime version — keys valid in DBR 12 may be unsupported or renamed in DBR 14.
5If the cluster is created via API or Terraform, run the create/edit payload through the Databricks Clusters API schema validator or test with a minimal config to isolate the offending field.

Example log output

com.databricks.backend.manager.util.UnknownWorkerException: INVALID_ARGUMENT: Spark config key 'spark.databricks.delta.preview.enabled' is not supported on DBR 14.3 LTS.
Cluster 0511-083142-abc1234 transitioned to TERMINATED state. Reason: USER_REQUEST / INVALID_ARGUMENT
Job run #8842 failed with state INTERNAL_ERROR: Cluster did not reach RUNNING state within timeout.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find which argument was invalid?

Open the cluster in the Databricks UI → Event Log. The termination event usually contains the specific key or value that triggered the error.

Can a cluster policy cause INVALID_ARGUMENT?

Yes — if a cluster configuration violates a workspace policy (e.g., a node type not permitted by the policy), the cluster may be rejected or terminated with INVALID_ARGUMENT.

Source · docs.databricks.com/aws/en/error-messages/error-classes.html