golang-migrate/migrate · error

unable to parse option x-migrations-table-quoted: %w

Error message

unable to parse option x-migrations-table-quoted: %w

What it means

Same validation as the pgx/v5 driver but in database/postgres (lib/pq path): Open parses the x-migrations-table-quoted URL option with strconv.ParseBool and wraps any parse failure with this message. The migration never reaches the database.

Source

Thrown at database/postgres/postgres.go:168

}

func (p *Postgres) Open(url string) (database.Driver, error) {
	purl, err := nurl.Parse(url)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	db, err := sql.Open("postgres", migrate.FilterCustomQuery(purl).String())
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	migrationsTable := purl.Query().Get("x-migrations-table")
	migrationsTableQuoted := false
	if s := purl.Query().Get("x-migrations-table-quoted"); len(s) > 0 {
		migrationsTableQuoted, err = strconv.ParseBool(s)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse option x-migrations-table-quoted: %w", err)
		}
	}
	if (len(migrationsTable) > 0) && (migrationsTableQuoted) && ((migrationsTable[0] != '"') || (migrationsTable[len(migrationsTable)-1] != '"')) {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("x-migrations-table must be quoted (for instance '\"migrate\".\"schema_migrations\"') when x-migrations-table-quoted is enabled, current value is: %s", migrationsTable)
	}

	statementTimeoutString := purl.Query().Get("x-statement-timeout")
	statementTimeout := 0
	if statementTimeoutString != "" {
		statementTimeout, err = strconv.Atoi(statementTimeoutString)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
	}

	multiStatementMaxSize := DefaultMultiStatementMaxSize
	if s := purl.Query().Get("x-multi-statement-max-size"); len(s) > 0 {
		multiStatementMaxSize, err = strconv.Atoi(s)

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a9643f14)

Solutions

1. Set the option to a ParseBool-valid literal: true, false, 1, 0, t, f, T, F, TRUE, FALSE, True, False
2. Remove the parameter to accept the default (false)
3. Percent-encode or single-quote the DSN so no spaces/invalid characters sneak into the value
4. Confirm with the wrapped strconv error which raw string was rejected

Example fix

// before
dsn := "postgres://u:p@host/db?x-migrations-table-quoted=enabled"
// after
dsn := "postgres://u:p@host/db?x-migrations-table-quoted=true"

u, _ := url.Parse(dsn)
if v := u.Query().Get("x-migrations-table-quoted"); v != "" {
    if _, err := strconv.ParseBool(v); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("invalid x-migrations-table-quoted %q: %w", v, err)
    }
}

func isParseBoolValue(v string) bool {
    _, err := strconv.ParseBool(v)
    return err == nil
}

if err := openMigrations(); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unable to parse option x-migrations-table-quoted") {
        log.Fatalf("use true/false (or 1/0) for x-migrations-table-quoted: %v", err)
    }
    panic(err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: postgres.Open (or the registered database/sql driver 'postgres' via sql.Open + migrate) with a URL like postgres://u:p@host/db?x-migrations-table-quoted=enabled or containing whitespace in the value.

Common situations: Hand-editing DSN strings, config templates emitting 'True' with trailing spaces or 'yes', mixing up this option with another library's boolean syntax, URL-encoding issues leaving %20 in the value.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

Related errors

• unable to parse option x-migrations-table-quoted: %w
• unable to parse option x-multi-statement: %w
• no database name
• x-migrations-table must be quoted (for instance '"migrate"."
• unable to parse option x-multi-statement: %w

AI-assisted analysis of golang-migrate/migrate@01a9643f14 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8572eae31727b3dd. Report an issue: GitHub.