apache/seatunnel · error · ParserException

The SQL config must contain `INSERT INTO ... SELECT ...` syn

Error message

The SQL config must contain `INSERT INTO ... SELECT ...` syntax

What it means

SqlConfigBuilder requires at least one sink config, produced only by INSERT statements; if sinkConfigs is empty after parsing it throws ParserException telling the user the config must contain `INSERT INTO ... SELECT ...` syntax. A job that only declares tables but never inserts is invalid.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-config/seatunnel-config-sql/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/config/sql/SqlConfigBuilder.java:158

            seaTunnelConfig.setSinkConfigs(
                    seaTunnelConfig.getSinkConfigs().stream()
                            .filter(
                                    sinkConfig -> {
                                        boolean containSourceTable = false;
                                        for (Option option : sinkConfig.getOptions()) {
                                            if (option.getKey().equals(OPTION_PLUGIN_INPUT_KEY)) {
                                                containSourceTable = true;
                                                break;
                                            }
                                        }
                                        return containSourceTable;
                                    })
                            .collect(Collectors.toList()));
            if (seaTunnelConfig.getSourceConfigs().isEmpty()) {
                throw new ParserException("The SQL config must contain at least one source table");
            }
            if (seaTunnelConfig.getSinkConfigs().isEmpty()) {
                throw new ParserException(
                        "The SQL config must contain `INSERT INTO ... SELECT ...` syntax");
            }

            // render to hocon config
            String configContent = ConfigTemplate.generate(seaTunnelConfig);
            log.debug("Generated config: \n{}", configContent);
            return ConfigFactory.parseString(configContent);
        } catch (ParserException e) {
            throw e;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new ParserException(e);
        }
    }

    private static List<String> parseAnnoConfigAndSqlLine(
            List<String> lines, SeaTunnelConfig seaTunnelConfig) {
        List<String> sqlLines = new ArrayList<>();
        List<String> annotationConfigs = new ArrayList<>();

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Add an INSERT INTO <sink_table> SELECT ... FROM <source_table> statement.
2. Verify the INSERT parses correctly as a JSqlParser Insert (no exotic syntax).
3. Ensure the sink CREATE TABLE exists and its name matches the INSERT target.
4. Check plugin_input/plugin_output identifiers line up so the sink isn't filtered out.

Example fix

// before
CREATE TABLE src WITH ('connector'='fake', 'type'='source') (id INT);
-- no insert: job has no sink
// after
CREATE TABLE src WITH ('connector'='fake', 'type'='source') (id INT);
CREATE TABLE sink WITH ('connector'='console', 'type'='sink') (id INT);
INSERT INTO sink SELECT id FROM src;

boolean hasInsert = Files.readAllLines(sqlFile).stream().anyMatch(l -> l.trim().toUpperCase().startsWith("INSERT INTO"));

try { Config c = SqlConfigBuilder.of(sqlFile); } catch (ParserException e) { if (e.getMessage().contains("INSERT INTO")) { /* add an INSERT statement */ } }

When it happens

Trigger: The .sql file contains only CREATE TABLE statements (sources and/or intermediate tables) with no INSERT INTO ... SELECT statement.

Common situations: Authoring only schema definitions expecting seatunnel to auto-wire, INSERT statements that failed the instanceof Insert check due to syntax quirks, or the sink filtered out because its plugin_input didn't match.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

• The SQL config must contain at least one source table
• Table name duplicate: %s
• Failed to parse job config file: <path>
• Failed to parse job config:
• Unsupported SQL syntax: %s

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7340cec17cd3bc5e. Report an issue: GitHub.