When using metadata filtering with a Knowledge Retrieval node, I get the error "metadata_model_config is required for this method".

[nya1mo]

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1. Is this request related to a challenge you're experiencing? Tell me about your story.

I'm hosting Dify in a Docker container.

After upgrading the version from 1.11.4 to 1.13.0, the metadata filtering in the Knowledge Retrieval, which was working fine before, now causes an error. Downgrading the version from 1.13.0 to 1.11.4 will make it work again.

Is there a way to fix it without downgrading to 1.11.4?

2. Additional context or comments

No response

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @nya1mo! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the dify team.

This is a known regression introduced after v1.11.4. The error occurs because when metadata filtering is enabled (set to "automatic" or "manual"), the backend now strictly requires a metadata_model_config to be present, but the frontend doesn't always send this configuration.

Workarounds:

1. Explicitly select a model for metadata filtering - In the Knowledge Retrieval node configuration, make sure you've selected a specific LLM model in the Metadata Filtering section, even when using "automatic" mode.

2. Disable metadata filtering - If you don't need metadata filtering, set metadata_filtering_mode to "disabled" to bypass this requirement entirely.

3. Run the full workflow first - After creating or modifying a workflow, run the complete workflow end-to-end at least once. This hydrates the database state, and subsequent single-node tests should then succeed.

This issue has been tracked in #22639 and #22681. The root cause is a validation gap in the code where the field is optional at the type level but mandatory at runtime.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[nya1mo]

I had originally set metadata filtering to manual, but when I switched to auto, a caution mark appeared as shown in the attachment. So I tried setting up the AI model, and the error no longer occurs!

Thanks