What causes "Failed to get tiny integer" in SeaQL/sea-orm?

Make the column non-nullable or use COALESCE in the query.

Failed to get tiny integer

Error message

Failed to get tiny integer

What it means

In `from_sqlx_mysql_row_to_proxy_row`, a column typed "TINYINT" (signed) is decoded with `row.try_get::<i8>` and `.expect("Failed to get tiny integer")`. The panic occurs when sqlx cannot decode the cell as i8 — typically a NULL requested as non-Option i8, or a type mismatch between the reported column type and the actual decoded value. Note MySQL reports TINYINT(1) as "TINYINT(1)", so a plain "TINYINT" branch sees other signed tinyint values.

Source

Thrown at sea-orm-sync/src/driver/sqlx_mysql.rs:409

                        "TINYINT UNSIGNED" => Value::TinyUnsigned(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get unsigned tiny integer"),
                        ),
                        "SMALLINT UNSIGNED" => Value::SmallUnsigned(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get unsigned small integer"),
                        ),
                        "INT UNSIGNED" => Value::Unsigned(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get unsigned integer"),
                        ),
                        "MEDIUMINT UNSIGNED" | "BIGINT UNSIGNED" => Value::BigUnsigned(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get unsigned big integer"),
                        ),
                        "TINYINT" => Value::TinyInt(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get tiny integer"),
                        ),
                        "SMALLINT" => Value::SmallInt(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal())
                                .expect("Failed to get small integer"),
                        ),
                        "INT" => {
                            Value::Int(row.try_get(c.ordinal()).expect("Failed to get integer"))
                        }
                        "MEDIUMINT" | "BIGINT" => Value::BigInt(
                            row.try_get(c.ordinal()).expect("Failed to get big integer"),
                        ),
                        "FLOAT" => {
                            Value::Float(row.try_get(c.ordinal()).expect("Failed to get float"))
                        }
                        "DOUBLE" => {
                            Value::Double(row.try_get(c.ordinal()).expect("Failed to get double"))
                        }

View on GitHub (pinned to e29bcd1b41)

Solutions

Make the column non-nullable or use COALESCE in the query.
Decode as `Option<i8>` and map NULL to Value::TinyInt(None).
Propagate the decode error as DbErr instead of panicking.
Confirm the sqlx version in use matches sea-orm's pinned sqlx.

Example fix

// before
"TINYINT" => Value::TinyInt(
    row.try_get(c.ordinal()).expect("Failed to get tiny integer"),
)
// after: tolerate NULL
"TINYINT" => Value::TinyInt(
    row.try_get::<Option<i8>, _>(c.ordinal())
        .expect("Failed to get tiny integer"),
)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// check NULL before decoding TINYINT as i8
if row.try_get_raw(c.ordinal())?.is_null() && c.type_info().name() == "TINYINT" {
    // handle NULL path
}

Try / catch

let v: Option<i8> = row.try_get(c.ordinal())?;

Prevention

Declare signed tinyint columns NOT NULL when values are mandatory.
Remember TINYINT(1) is routed to the boolean branch — check which branch your column hits.
Cover proxy conversion with NULL fixtures.
Pin sqlx to the version sea-orm was built with.

When it happens

Trigger: Proxy backend query against MySQL returning a signed TINYINT column that is NULL, or whose value fails i8 decoding (e.g. a boolean-ish or wider value under a mismatched type_info name).

Common situations: Nullable signed tinyint columns through the proxy backend; sqlx MySQL type_info naming differences across versions making the branch match the wrong value; computed columns reporting TINYINT while decoding differently.

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of SeaQL/sea-orm@e29bcd1b41 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1036e2686ca2955d. Report an issue: GitHub.