getredash/redash · warning · QueryParseError

Query is empty.

Error message

Query is empty.

What it means

json_ds (JSON URL) queries must be a YAML document. parse_query strips whitespace and rejects empty input with QueryParseError('Query is empty.') before YAML parsing.

Source

Thrown at redash/query_runner/json_ds.py:27

    TYPE_BOOLEAN,
    TYPE_DATETIME,
    TYPE_FLOAT,
    TYPE_INTEGER,
    TYPE_STRING,
    BaseHTTPQueryRunner,
    register,
)


class QueryParseError(Exception):
    pass


def parse_query(query):
    # TODO: copy paste from Metrica query runner, we should extract this into a utility
    query = query.strip()
    if query == "":
        raise QueryParseError("Query is empty.")
    try:
        params = yaml.safe_load(query)
        return params
    except ValueError as e:
        logging.exception(e)
        error = str(e)
        raise QueryParseError(error)


TYPES_MAP = {
    str: TYPE_STRING,
    bytes: TYPE_STRING,
    int: TYPE_INTEGER,
    float: TYPE_FLOAT,
    bool: TYPE_BOOLEAN,
    datetime.datetime: TYPE_DATETIME,
}

View on GitHub (pinned to ca79fe988d)

Solutions

1. Write a minimal valid YAML object such as 'url: https://api.example.com/items'
2. Guard scripts to skip execution when query.strip() is empty

Example fix

# before
""
# after
url: https://api.example.com/items

def is_runnable_json_ds_query(q: str) -> bool:
    return bool(q and q.strip())

try:
    data, error = runner.run_query(q, user)
except QueryParseError as e:
    if str(e) == "Query is empty.":
        skip_execution_and_prompt_user()

When it happens

Trigger: Executing a query containing only whitespace/newlines in a JSON URL data source, or a default/new empty query editor being run.

Common situations: Accidentally hitting run on an unsaved/blank query, clearing the editor before running, automation sending empty query text.

Related errors

• Query should be a YAML object describing the URL to query.
• Query must include 'url' option.
• Only GET or POST methods are allowed.
• 'fields' needs to be a list.
• 'pagination' should be an object with a `type` property

AI-assisted analysis of getredash/redash@ca79fe988d (2026-08-28). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d3fcca9d6efc4e33. Report an issue: GitHub.