Error when delegating: delegate.no_deletion

Question

Very related to Getting error delegate.no_deletion when delegating but with a bit more specific info, in case it helps.

Working on BabylonNet, I'm trying to delegate from one tz1 to another tz1. This is what I send to the /helpers/preapply/operations rpc:

 [{
    "protocol": "PsBabyM1eUXZseaJdmXFApDSBqj8YBfwELoxZHHW77EMcAbbwAS",
    "contents": [{
        "delegate": "tz1eZAGXmXxwkXUBUxuSk5XkJ5UZ5Q25Baja",
        "storage_limit": "0",
        "gas_limit": "10000",
        "kind": "delegation",
        "fee": "1257",
        "source": "tz1XSXBeWqdupm73qWAJkxJkxRzH16y77i1B",
        "counter": "201458"
    }],
    "signature": "edsigthfYr(...)",
    "branch": "BM5RAzkJPNetKE5XhbAP1KcSo8bRhgGDrU8HTwcdZM6g1obSN7M"
 }]

And the response I get is:

[{
    "contents": [{
        "kind": "delegation",
        "source": "tz1XSXBeWqdupm73qWAJkxJkxRzH16y77i1B",
        "fee": "1257",
        "counter": "201458",
        "gas_limit": "10000",
        "storage_limit": "0",
        "delegate": "tz1eZAGXmXxwkXUBUxuSk5XkJ5UZ5Q25Baja",
        "metadata": {
            "balance_updates": [{
                "kind": "contract",
                "contract": "tz1XSXBeWqdupm73qWAJkxJkxRzH16y77i1B",
                "change": "-1257"
            }, {
                "kind": "freezer",
                "category": "fees",
                "delegate": "tz1Ke2h7sDdakHJQh8WX4Z372du1KChsksyU",
                "cycle": 88,
                "change": "1257"
            }],
            "operation_result": {
                "status": "failed",
                "errors": [{
                    "kind": "permanent",
                    "id": "proto.005-PsBabyM1.delegate.no_deletion",
                    "delegate": "tz1XSXBeWqdupm73qWAJkxJkxRzH16y77i1B"
                }]
            }
        }
    }],
    "signature": "edsigthfYr(...)"
}]

What do proto.005-PsBabyM1.delegate.no_deletion mean in this situation? I do send a delegate parameter. I tried reviewing the code for delegation but none of the conditions seems to apply to what I am sending.

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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 - this is your case (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.