How to fix ERROR 1303: Can't create stored routine from within another in MySQL

Check your code for any CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE FUNCTION, or CREATE TRIGGER statements that appear inside another stored routine. Here's an example of what causes the error:

CREATE PROCEDURE parent_proc()
BEGIN
  -- This line causes ERROR 1303:
  CREATE PROCEDURE child_proc()
  BEGIN
    SELECT 'This will fail';
  END;
END;

If you're using a GUI tool like Navicat, MySQL Workbench, or phpMyAdmin, check the stored procedure editor to see if you accidentally included the CREATE PROCEDURE statement.

When editing a stored routine in GUI tools, you should only include the routine body, not the CREATE statement. The tool handles the CREATE statement automatically.

Wrong (includes CREATE):

CREATE PROCEDURE my_proc()
BEGIN
  SELECT 'This code';
END;

Correct (body only):

BEGIN
  SELECT 'This code';
END;

Remove the first line and keep only the BEGIN...END block or function body. Then click Save/Apply in your GUI tool.

If you need to create routines dynamically, create them at the session or application level, not inside another stored routine.

Before (will fail):

CREATE PROCEDURE create_helper()
BEGIN
  CREATE PROCEDURE helper_proc()
  BEGIN
    SELECT 'Helper';
  END;
END;

CALL create_helper(); -- Error 1303

After (works):

-- Create the helper procedure separately
CREATE PROCEDURE helper_proc()
BEGIN
  SELECT 'Helper';
END;

-- Create the parent procedure that calls the helper
CREATE PROCEDURE create_helper()
BEGIN
  CALL helper_proc();
END;

CALL create_helper(); -- Success

Separate routine creation from routine execution. All stored routines should be created at the database level before they are called.

If you're using prepared statements or dynamic SQL to create routines, remove that approach entirely. MySQL does not support creating stored routines via prepared statements or dynamic SQL.

Wrong (will fail):

CREATE PROCEDURE dynamic_create()
BEGIN
  SET @sql = 'CREATE PROCEDURE new_proc() BEGIN SELECT 1; END';
  PREPARE stmt FROM @sql;
  EXECUTE stmt; -- Error 1303
  DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;
END;

Correct approach:
If you need to generate stored routines programmatically, do this at the application level using your database driver (PHP, Python, Node.js, etc.) to execute raw SQL, not from within MySQL.

// Node.js example: Create routine from application, not database
const mysql = require('mysql2/promise');

async function createRoutines() {
  const connection = await mysql.createConnection(config);
  await connection.query(`
    CREATE PROCEDURE my_proc()
    BEGIN
      SELECT 1;
    END;
  `);
  await connection.end();
}

This gives you the flexibility to generate routine definitions dynamically while respecting MySQL's architectural constraints.

After restructuring your code, test that the parent routine works correctly:

CALL your_parent_routine();

If the call succeeds without ERROR 1303, the issue is resolved. Check the MySQL error log if you encounter other issues:

-- View the last 50 error log entries
SHOW ERRORS LIMIT 50;

-- Or check the log file directly (path depends on your MySQL config)
-- On Linux: /var/log/mysql/error.log
-- On Windows: C:\ProgramData\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0\Data\hostname.err