Getting error delegate.no_deletion when delegating

Question

What does this error mean?

proto.005-PsBabyM1.delegate.no_deletion

This happened when trying to delegate to a baker.

Answer 1

The problem is that the source address you're trying to delegate from is already registered as a baker. There are two situations that lead to the No_deletion error:

• trying to withdraw delegation from a contract that is registered as a baker (https://gitlab.com/tezos/tezos/blob/91937213f09b0660482124fede5c9ce3010dbac3/src/proto_005_PsBabyM1/lib_protocol/delegate_storage.ml#L258)
• trying to re-delegate a contract that is registered as a baker to a different baker (https://gitlab.com/tezos/tezos/blob/91937213f09b0660482124fede5c9ce3010dbac3/src/proto_005_PsBabyM1/lib_protocol/delegate_storage.ml#L293)

Note that when you're registered as a baker, you're delegating to self.

Answer 2

I had this error when trying to switch delegate from my baker address to another validator. After some hassle, I figured it out I need to first transfer the balance to a new address and then delegate from that new address.