SQLSTATE 0B000 ERROR Class 0B: Invalid Transaction Initiation

invalid_transaction_initiation Invalid Transaction Initiation — SQLSTATE 0B000

SQLSTATE 0B000 (invalid_transaction_initiation): A transaction could not be initiated.

PG 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Official docs
Last reviewed May 2025 Grounded in source

Symptoms

The server reports SQLSTATE 0B000 (invalid_transaction_initiation), a condition in the Invalid Transaction Initiation class.

  • The error is written to the server log and returned to the client carrying SQLSTATE 0B000.
  • Any driver (libpq, JDBC, psycopg, npgsql, pgx) surfaces this code in its error object so you can branch on it programmatically.
  • PL/pgSQL can trap it by name: EXCEPTION WHEN invalid_transaction_initiation THEN.

Environment

Severity: ERROR  |  PostgreSQL versions: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Reproduce with the exact statement and read the full message in the server log (raise log_min_messages / set log_min_error_statement for more context).

Root Cause

0B000 belongs to Class 0B — Invalid Transaction Initiation. In this class, a transaction could not be initiated.

The first two characters (0B) identify the error class, so application code can match the whole class via 0B000 when the specific code is not needed.

Diagnostic Queries

Recovery

Review nested transaction and SET TRANSACTION usage; you cannot start a transaction in the current state.

Reference: PostgreSQL error codes — Class 0B (Invalid Transaction Initiation).

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