OrchardCMS/OrchardCore · error · ArgumentException

Invalid query

Error message

Invalid query

What it means

This is the fall-through case of MatchQueryProvider.CreateQuery: the field's JSON value is not one of the supported shapes (string or the recognized object/array forms), so the provider cannot build a match query and throws a generic ArgumentException('Invalid query').

Solutions

1. Provide the search text as a JSON string: {"title": "quick"}.
2. If using the object form, ensure it matches the provider's expected keys (e.g. "value", "minimum_should_match").
3. Coerce non-string scalars to strings client-side before building the query.

Example fix

// before
{"published": true}
// after
{"published": "true"}

var k = query.Value.ValueKind;
if (k is not (JsonValueKind.String or JsonValueKind.Object))
    throw new ArgumentException("match query value must be a string or a supported object");

static bool IsMatchShape(JsonElement el) =>
    el.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String || el.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.Object;

try { var query = provider.CreateQuery(context, queryJson); }
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message == "Invalid query")
{ return BadRequest("Unsupported match query value shape; expected a string or object."); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling CreateQuery with a match query whose value is an unsupported JSON kind — e.g. a boolean, number, or null like {"title": true} or {"title": null} instead of a string or the supported object form.

Common situations: Unquoted booleans/numbers in hand-written query JSON; null values from unbound template variables; client serializers emitting typed values instead of strings.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid term in terms query
• Invalid terms query
• Invalid wildcard query
• Invalid fuzzy query
• Prefix query misses prefix value

AI-assisted analysis of OrchardCMS/OrchardCore@4306c0717f (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2d828886ddb16a46. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/OrchardCore/OrchardCore.Lucene.Core/QueryProviders/MatchQueryProvider.cs:65

                if (terms.Count == 0)
                {
                    if (obj.TryGetPropertyValue("zero_terms_query", out var zeroTermsQuery))
                    {
                        if (zeroTermsQuery.ToString() == "all")
                        {
                            return new MatchAllDocsQuery();
                        }
                    }
                }

                foreach (var term in terms)
                {
                    boolQuery.Add(new TermQuery(new Term(first.Key, term)), occur);
                }

                return boolQuery;
            default: throw new ArgumentException("Invalid query");
        }
    }
}

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