What does HRESULT 0x80041791 (PSINK_E_INDEX_ONLY) mean?

 
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PSINK_E_QUERY_ONLY PSINK_E_LARGE_ATTACHMENT

PSINK_E_INDEX_ONLY

A phrase-sink operation is available only during indexing

PSINK_E_INDEX_ONLY is HRESULT 0x80041791 (-2147215471 signed; 2147751825 unsigned). Its severity bit is 1, facility is 4 (FACILITY_ITF for these values), and code field is 0x1791. Standard HRESULT severity rules classify the value as a failure. AllStat describes the value as “Feature only available in index mode.”

Interpretation in context

This result belongs to sending index-only phrase data while processing a user query. The decisive interpretation is that the attachment belongs in catalog construction and is not valid for query-time expansion. Keep the symbolic constant and method stage together in logs; its hexadecimal value alone cannot identify the owning transition or input.

Phrase-sink callbacks differ between query and index processing. In the result investigation, the attachment type and pipeline mode define whether a callback is legal. This context narrows the responsible component without replacing the code-specific checks below.

Conditions to test

  • This result: Index annotations leak into query processing.
  • This result: One code path reuses index-time attachment types.
  • This result: Sink mode is inferred from stale global state.

The useful hypothesis for it must explain both sending index-only phrase data while processing a user query and the documented condition. Compare the failing case with a control that preserves attachment type and phrase boundaries and changes only query/index pipeline marker; this prevents unrelated environment differences from dominating the result test.

Incident record

  • check attachment type and phrase boundaries.
  • check query/index pipeline marker.
  • check caller and breaker version.
  • check sink instance lifetime.

Capture attachment type and phrase boundaries before releasing objects, closing handles or reconnecting. Retain the raw HRESULT with query/index pipeline marker, component version, UTC timestamp and correlation ID. Bound the result telemetry to diagnostic metadata because document content, credentials and unrestricted query text may be sensitive.

Step-by-step diagnosis

  1. Classify the requested attachment according to the sink contract. Associate this observation specifically with it.
  2. Verify mode is passed explicitly rather than inferred. Associate this observation specifically with it.
  3. Remove index-only metadata from query expansion. Associate this observation specifically with it.
  4. Test the same phrase in separate index and query harnesses. Associate this observation specifically with it.

Change one variable per it control run. Preserve the component version and target identity, then alter only the condition described as the attachment belongs in catalog construction and is not valid for query-time expansion. This isolates whether it is causal rather than merely repeatable.

Retry decision

Perform the operation during indexing or choose a query-supported attachment. Do not silently reinterpret the attachment type. Record whether sending index-only phrase data while processing a user query produced any content, update or state transition before returning. If completion remains unknown, the path must not replay non-idempotent work until the owner confirms final state.

The retry gate for it should be a concrete change in attachment type and phrase boundaries or query/index pipeline marker. A timer alone cannot demonstrate that the result contract condition has changed.

What the value cannot establish

It does not mean the query text is malformed or the language database is missing. Without the call boundary for sending index-only phrase data while processing a user query, it also cannot identify which wrapper or configuration layer introduced the condition.

Adjacent contract states

PSINK_E_QUERY_ONLY rejects the inverse mode mismatch. In it telemetry, preserve neighboring constants separately because the same visible symptom may require a different caller action, owner or recovery gate.

Developer and administrator actions

  • At the code boundary, keep attachment type and phrase boundaries beside the returned HRESULT; preserve the observation under the result correlation record.
  • In telemetry, correlate query/index pipeline marker with the target and component generation; preserve the observation under the result correlation record.
  • For regression coverage, force the documented condition: the attachment belongs in catalog construction and is not valid for query-time expansion; preserve the observation under the result correlation record.
  • For operations staff, expose the corrective state change rather than a generic retry button; preserve the observation under the result correlation record.
  • After remediation, validate one known-good control and the original failing case; preserve the observation under the result correlation record.

Concrete scenario

A query service reuses an indexing phrase callback that emits positional metadata. Splitting the adapters restores correct mode semantics. In this scenario, handling it at its real contract boundary prevents the application from collapsing a precise state into an unhelpful generic “search failed” message.

Official Microsoft references

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