apache/cassandra · error · InvalidRequestException

Invalid number of arguments for function %s

Error message

Invalid number of arguments for function %s

What it means

FunctionFactory.getOrCreateFunction() validates argument count against the factory's declared mandatory/optional parameter counts before inferring types. If numArgs is below the number of mandatory parameters or above the total parameter count, invalidNumberOfArgumentsException() is thrown.

Source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/functions/FunctionFactory.java:91

     *
     * @param args the arguments in the function call for which the function is going to be built
     * @param receiverType the expected return type of the function call for which the function is going to be built
     * @param receiverKeyspace the name of the recevier keyspace
     * @param receiverTable the name of the recevier table
     * @return a function with a signature compatible with the specified function call, or {@code null} if the factory
     * cannot create a function for the supplied arguments but there might be another factory with the same
     * {@link #name()} able to do it.
     */
    @Nullable
    public NativeFunction getOrCreateFunction(List<? extends AssignmentTestable> args,
                                              AbstractType<?> receiverType,
                                              String receiverKeyspace,
                                              String receiverTable)
    {
        // validate the number of arguments
        int numArgs = args.size();
        if (numArgs < numMandatoryParameters || numArgs > numParameters)
            throw invalidNumberOfArgumentsException();

        // Do a first pass trying to infer the types of the arguments individually, without any context about the types
        // of the other arguments. We don't do any validation during this first pass.
        List<AbstractType<?>> types = new ArrayList<>(args.size());
        for (int i = 0; i < args.size(); i++)
        {
            AssignmentTestable arg = args.get(i);
            FunctionParameter parameter = parameters.get(i);
            types.add(parameter.inferType(SchemaConstants.SYSTEM_KEYSPACE_NAME, arg, receiverType, null));
        }

        // Do a second pass trying to infer the types of the arguments considering the types of other inferred types.
        // We can validate the inferred types during this second pass.
        for (int i = 0; i < args.size(); i++)
        {
            AssignmentTestable arg = args.get(i);
            FunctionParameter parameter = parameters.get(i);
            AbstractType<?> type = parameter.inferType(SchemaConstants.SYSTEM_KEYSPACE_NAME, arg, receiverType, types);

View on GitHub (pinned to 88fd0f6a0e)

Solutions

1. Supply at least the mandatory arguments and at most the maximum supported (check DESC FUNCTIONS for signatures)
2. Remove extraneous arguments and hardcode them client-side
3. Upgrade/downgrade awareness: confirm the target Cassandra version's supported overloads

Example fix

// before
SELECT toTimestamp() FROM t; -- 0 args
// after
SELECT toTimestamp(now()) FROM t; -- or use now()/currentTimestamp() with correct arity

if (args.length < mandatoryCount || args.length > maxCount) throw new Error('native function arity out of declared range');

try { rs = session.execute(q); } catch (InvalidQueryException e) { if (e.getMessage().includes('Invalid number of arguments')) { /* supply mandatory args */ } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Any native function built on FunctionFactory called with fewer mandatory args than required (e.g. zero-arg call) or more than max, e.g. `currentTimestamp(1, 2, 3, 4)` or a formatter called with no arguments.

Common situations: Calls to native functions like maxTimestamp/format functions with wrong arity; version differences where newer signatures accept more optional params than the cluster supports.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid number of arguments for function %s
• Incorrect number of arguments specified for function %s (exp
• Unknown function %s called
• Aggregation function are not supported in the where clause
• Type error: cannot assign result of operation %s (type %s) t

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eae507726fe9958b. Report an issue: GitHub.