SQLITE_LOCKED_VTABWARNINGTier 2 — Caution⚠️ MEDIUM confidenceVirtual table is locked
Category: LockingVersions: 3.0+
🔴 Production Risk Error
Low — SQLite handles retries internally in most scenarios.
What this means
SQLITE_LOCKED_VTAB (518) is returned by a virtual table's xBegin or xSync method to signal that the virtual table is locked and the transaction cannot proceed. This allows SQLite to retry after releasing other locks.
Why it happens
- 1Virtual table implementation returned SQLITE_LOCKED_VTAB to indicate it is temporarily busy.
- 2Concurrent access to the virtual table's backing store.
How to reproduce
Two-phase commit on a virtual table when the vtab's backing store is locked.
trigger — this will ERROR
-- Virtual table operations that trigger internal locking
-- SQLITE_LOCKED_VTAB causes SQLite to retry the two-phase commitTransient; SQLite retries automatically in most cases.
Fix 1
Why this works
Retry the transaction if surfaced to the application.
Fix 2
Why this works
Check the virtual table implementation for deadlock conditions.
Sources
📚 Official docs: https://www.sqlite.org/rescode.html#locked_vtab
🔧 Source ref: sqlite3.h — SQLITE_LOCKED_VTAB = 518
📖 Further reading: SQLite virtual table API
Confidence assessment
⚠️ MEDIUM confidence
Stable.
See also
📄 Reference pages
SQLite virtual tables
⚙️ This error reference was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Examples are provided to illustrate common scenarios and may not cover every case. Always test fixes in a development environment before applying to production. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction →