cube-js/cube · error

Date range expected to be an array with 2 elements but ${ran

Error message

Date range expected to be an array with 2 elements but ${range} found

What it means

checkDataRangeType validates that a query date range used for partitioned pre-aggregation planning is an array of exactly two elements. It throws when range is truthy but range.length !== 2, meaning an unexpected date-range shape was passed into the partition range loader. This is an input validation error on internally computed or user-supplied dateRange values.

Source

Thrown at packages/cubejs-query-orchestrator/src/orchestrator/PreAggregationPartitionRangeLoader.ts:513

      const now = this.now();
      return [now, now];
    }
    if (!dateRange[0]) {
      return [dateRange[1], dateRange[1]];
    }
    if (!dateRange[1]) {
      return [dateRange[0], dateRange[0]];
    }
    return dateRange;
  }

  private static checkDataRangeType(range: QueryDateRange) {
    if (!range) {
      return;
    }

    if (range.length !== 2) {
      throw new Error(`Date range expected to be an array with 2 elements but ${range} found`);
    }

    if (typeof range[0] !== 'string' || typeof range[1] !== 'string') {
      throw new Error(`Date range expected to be a string array but ${range} found`);
    }

    if ((range[0].length !== 23 && range[0].length !== 26) || (range[1].length !== 23 && range[0].length !== 26)) {
      throw new Error(`Date range expected to be in ${DEFAULT_TS_FORMAT} format but ${range} found`);
    }
  }

  public static intersectDateRanges(rangeA: QueryDateRange | null, rangeB: QueryDateRange | null): QueryDateRange | null {
    PreAggregationPartitionRangeLoader.checkDataRangeType(rangeA);
    PreAggregationPartitionRangeLoader.checkDataRangeType(rangeB);
    if (!rangeB) {
      return rangeA;
    }
    if (!rangeA) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 7d981676b3)

Solutions

1. Always pass dateRange as exactly [start, end] strings, e.g. ['2024-01-01', '2024-02-01'].
2. For multiple ranges, use separate queries or Cube's date range intersection logic rather than concatenating arrays.
3. Inspect the query JSON that reached the loader and fix the client/dashboard code building the range.
4. Add client-side validation that Array.isArray(range) && range.length === 2 before sending.

Example fix

// before
dateRange: ['2024-01-01']
// after
dateRange: ['2024-01-01', '2024-03-01']

function isValidRangeShape(range) {
  return Array.isArray(range) && range.length === 2;
}
if (!isValidRangeShape(query.timeDimensions[0].dateRange)) throw new Error('dateRange must be [start, end]');

function isPairRange(r) {
  return Array.isArray(r) && r.length === 2;
}

try {
  return await loader.loadPreAggregations();
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e.message).includes('expected to be an array with 2 elements')) {
    // normalize range to [start, end] and retry
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Passing a dateRange with 1 or 3+ elements (e.g., ['2024-01-01'] or a flattened array) into partition range loading; internal code computing intersected ranges incorrectly and passing a malformed array.

Common situations: Users supplying dateRange with a single date string; combining multiple time dimension ranges into an array of arrays; custom code constructing ranges programmatically; JSON payload where dateRange was mis-serialized.

Related errors

• Pre-aggregation '${this.preAggregation.tableName}' requested
• Date range expected to be a string array but ${range} found
• Date range expected to be in ${DEFAULT_TS_FORMAT} format but
• Can't parse date: '${from}'
• Can't parse date: '${to}'

AI-assisted analysis of cube-js/cube@7d981676b3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bd7a54782c89e177. Report an issue: GitHub.