apache/seatunnel · error · ConfigCheckException

SQL Syntax Error in Sql Transform

Error message

SQL Syntax Error in Sql Transform: ${targetException.message}

What it means

For Sql transform plugin blocks, SeaTunnelConfValidateCommand statically checks SQL syntax by reflectively loading JSqlParser (CCJSqlParserUtil) through the plugin classloader and parsing the `query`. If JSqlParser parses the SQL and throws, the underlying parser message is rethrown as a ConfigCheckException. Non-parse failures (e.g. JSqlParser not on the classpath) are only logged as warnings, so this error specifically means the SQL itself is malformed.

Solutions

1. Fix the SQL reported after 'SQL Syntax Error in Sql Transform:' — the wrapped message points at the parser failure position
2. Paste the query into a standalone SQL parser (or the target DB) to confirm valid syntax
3. Check HOCON quoting so the full query string reaches the transform intact (multi-line strings with triple quotes)
4. Verify the SeaTunnel version's bundled JSqlParser supports the SQL dialect used

Example fix

// before
transform {
  Sql {
    source_table_name = "fake"
    result_table_name = "out"
    query = "select id, name form fake"
  }
}
// after
transform {
  Sql {
    source_table_name = "fake"
    result_table_name = "out"
    query = "select id, name from fake"
  }
}

// Validate SQL locally before putting it in config
String sql = "select id, name from fake";
try {
    net.sf.jsqlparser.parser.CCJSqlParserUtil.parse(sql);
} catch (Exception e) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid transform SQL: " + e.getMessage());
}

try {
    command.execute(args);
} catch (ConfigCheckException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("SQL Syntax Error")) {
        log.error("Fix transform query: {}", e.getMessage());
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: A Sql transform config contains a `query` whose SQL fails JSqlParser parsing during `--validate`; the InvocationTargetException from the reflective parse call is unwrapped and rethrown.

Common situations: Typos in SQL keywords, missing FROM clauses, dangling commas, dialect-specific syntax JSqlParser does not understand, quotes/backticks mismatched, or SQL split incorrectly across HOCON string concatenation.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

• Adding missing fields to SELECT clause
• Cannot read the redo log position via 'SELECT CURRENT_SCN…
• Close ErrorHandler for transform stage failed
• Column not found in table
• column does not exist.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0f3492872c019bcd. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at seatunnel-core/seatunnel-starter/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/core/starter/seatunnel/command/SeaTunnelConfValidateCommand.java:353

            throws ConfigCheckException {
        if (!pluginConfig.hasPath("query")) {
            return;
        }

        String query = pluginConfig.getString("query");
        if (StringUtils.isBlank(query)) {
            return;
        }

        try {
            Class<?> parserUtilClass =
                    Class.forName(
                            "net.sf.jsqlparser.parser.CCJSqlParserUtil", true, pluginClassLoader);
            Method parseMethod = parserUtilClass.getMethod("parse", String.class);
            parseMethod.invoke(null, query);
            log.debug("Successfully validated SQL transform syntax statically.");
        } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
            throw new ConfigCheckException(
                    "SQL Syntax Error in Sql Transform: " + e.getTargetException().getMessage(),
                    e.getTargetException());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            log.warn("Could not dynamically load JSqlParser for strict SQL syntax validation", e);
        }
    }
}

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