PRQL/prql · error

Crate is not built with the `cli` feature enabled, or was…

Error message

Crate is not built with the `cli` feature enabled, or was built for a wasm target.

What it means

The prqlc binary's main() has two variants: one gated behind the `cli` feature for non-wasm targets, and a stub that panics when the crate is compiled without that feature or for a wasm target. Hitting it means the binary was built in a configuration in which no CLI is available.

Solutions

1. Build with default features or explicitly: cargo install prqlc --features cli (or cargo build -p prqlc --features cli)
2. Remove --no-default-features from the build command
3. If targeting wasm, use the wasm/npm binding instead of the CLI binary
4. Check the feature flags in your Cargo workspace/CI config so the cli feature stays enabled for the bin target

Example fix

// before
cargo build -p prqlc --no-default-features
cargo run -p prqlc -- compile q.prql
// after
cargo build -p prqlc --features cli
cargo run -p prqlc -- compile q.prql

# Check the feature is enabled before invoking
cargo metadata --no-deps | jq -r '.packages[] | select(.name=="prqlc") | .features | keys[]' | grep -x cli

When it happens

Trigger: Running `cargo run -p prqlc` (or executing the built binary) when built with --no-default-features, a feature set that excludes `cli`, or when targeting wasm32 via cargo run.

Common situations: Using prqlc as a library dependency and accidentally executing its bin target; building with --no-default-features for a minimal wasm build then trying to invoke the CLI; CI jobs that strip default features.

Related errors

• `lsp` requires `prqlc` to be built with the `lsp` feature
• prql_to_sql! proc macro expected a string
• {}
• Could not parse PRQL version
• Could not parse prqlc version number

AI-assisted analysis of PRQL/prql@e164e249b9 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/172b26d78686d021. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at prqlc/prqlc/src/main.rs:21

#[cfg(all(not(target_family = "wasm"), feature = "cli"))]
fn main() -> color_eyre::eyre::Result<()> {
    // Use a larger stack size (8 MiB) to avoid stack overflows on Windows,
    // where the default stack is only 1 MiB.
    const STACK_SIZE: usize = 8 * 1024 * 1024;

    let thread = std::thread::Builder::new()
        .stack_size(STACK_SIZE)
        .spawn(cli::main)
        .expect("failed to spawn main thread");

    thread.join().expect("main thread panicked")?;
    Ok(())
}

#[cfg(any(target_family = "wasm", not(feature = "cli")))]
fn main() {
    panic!("Crate is not built with the `cli` feature enabled, or was built for a wasm target.");
}

View on GitHub (pinned to e164e249b9)