cayleygraph/cayley · error

unsupported sql database: %q

Error message

unsupported sql database: %q

What it means

Init registers and opens a SQL-backed quadstore. The SQL flavor must be one of the keys in the package's `types` map (postgres, mysql, sqlite). If the `typ` string passed in doesn't match any registered flavor, the store refuses to initialize and returns this error before attempting any connection.

Source

Thrown at graph/sql/quadstore.go:204

}

var nodeInsertColumns = [][]string{
	{"value"},
	{"value_string", "iri"},
	{"value_string", "bnode"},
	{"value_string"},
	{"value_string", "datatype"},
	{"value_string", "language"},
	{"value_int"},
	{"value_bool"},
	{"value_float"},
	{"value_time"},
}

func Init(typ string, addr string, options graph.Options) error {
	fl, ok := types[typ]
	if !ok {
		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported sql database: %q", typ)
	}
	conn, err := connect(addr, fl.Driver, options)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer conn.Close()

	nodesSQL := fl.nodesTable()
	quadsSQL := fl.quadsTable()
	indexes := fl.quadIndexes(options)

	if fl.NoSchemaChangesInTx {
		_, err = conn.Exec(nodesSQL)
		if err != nil {
			err = fl.Error(err)
			clog.Errorf("Cannot create nodes table: %v", err)
			return err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 81dcd7d73e)

Solutions

1. Check the spelling of the type argument against the supported list (postgres, mysql, sqlite)
2. Fix the database/type field in the Cayley config or command-line flag to a supported value
3. Inspect the types map in graph/sql/quadstore.go for the exact registered keys in your version
4. Register a custom flavor by importing a driver package (e.g. _ "github.com/.../sql/postgres") if it exists

Example fix

// before
err := sql.Init("postgresql", addr, opts)
// after
err := sql.Init("postgres", addr, opts)

supported := []string{"postgres", "mysql", "sqlite"}
found := false
for _, s := range supported { if typ == s { found = true } }
if !found { return fmt.Errorf("unsupported sql type %q; supported: %v", typ, supported) }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling graph/sql.Init with a backend name not in the types map, e.g. Init("postgresql", ...) when only "postgres" is registered, or a typo like "sqllite".

Common situations: Cayley config files where database: is set to a misspelled or renamed backend name; migrating from another triplestore whose driver names differ (e.g. "cockroach" vs "postgres"); upgrading versions where a flavor was removed.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• sql query failed: %v query: %v
• unsupported time format: %T: %v
• error executing value lookup: %w
• unmarshal value: %w
• HTTP Request needed

AI-assisted analysis of cayleygraph/cayley@81dcd7d73e (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c2b2cc25281102b1. Report an issue: GitHub.