googleapis/mcp-toolbox · error

failed to insert dry run job: %w

Error message

failed to insert dry run job: %w

What it means

DryRunQuery submits a query as a dry-run job to the BigQuery REST API (jobs.insert with configuration.dryRun=true). If the REST insert call returns an error (auth failure, invalid project, quota, malformed job), the error is wrapped with this message so callers can tell the dry-run submission itself failed as opposed to the query being invalid.

Source

Thrown at internal/tools/bigquery/bigquerycommon/util.go:82

		JobReference: &bigqueryrestapi.JobReference{
			ProjectId: projectID,
			Location:  location,
		},
		Configuration: &bigqueryrestapi.JobConfiguration{
			DryRun: true,
			Query: &bigqueryrestapi.JobConfigurationQuery{
				Query:                sql,
				UseLegacySql:         &useLegacySql,
				ConnectionProperties: restConnProps,
				QueryParameters:      params,
				MaximumBytesBilled:   maximumBytesBilled,
			},
		},
	}

	insertResponse, err := restService.Jobs.Insert(projectID, jobToInsert).Context(ctx).Do()
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to insert dry run job: %w", err)
	}
	return insertResponse, nil
}

// BQTypeStringFromToolType converts a tool parameter type string to a BigQuery standard SQL type string.
func BQTypeStringFromToolType(toolType string) (string, error) {
	switch toolType {
	case parameters.TypeString:
		return "STRING", nil
	case parameters.TypeInt:
		return "INT64", nil
	case parameters.TypeFloat:
		return "FLOAT64", nil
	case parameters.TypeBool:
		return "BOOL", nil
	case parameters.TypeMap:
		return "STRUCT", nil
	default:

View on GitHub (pinned to 8cc6e09de2)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped %w error for root cause; verify credentials (gcloud auth application-default login or service account key)
2. Confirm the project ID is correct and the BigQuery API is enabled
3. Retry with backoff if the error is transient (network/5xx/quota)
4. Check IAM permissions: the caller needs bigquery.jobs.create

Example fix

// before
resp, err := DryRunQuery(ctx, cfgWithoutCreds...)
// after
// ensure a token source is configured:
client, _ := google.DefaultTokenSource(ctx, bigquery.CloudPlatformScope)
resp, err := DryRunQuery(ctx, ..., client)

// preflight: verify credentials and API access before dry runs
creds, err := google.FindDefaultCredentials(ctx, bigquery.CloudPlatformScope)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("no BigQuery credentials available: %w", err)
}
if projectID == "" {
    return fmt.Errorf("project ID must be set before dry run")
}

resp, err := DryRunQuery(ctx, ...)
if err != nil {
    var retryable bool
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "quota") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "connection") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "503") {
        retryable = true // retry with exponential backoff
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("dry run failed (retryable=%v): %w", retryable, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DryRunQuery when the underlying restService.Jobs.Insert(...).Do() request fails: invalid credentials/token, wrong projectID, BigQuery API disabled, network failure, or exceeded quota.

Common situations: Expired or missing service-account credentials; GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS not set; BigQuery API not enabled on the project; transient network/DNS issues in CI; requesting dry runs at a rate above quota.

Understand the failure class

Background: "API request failed": what wrapped HTTP errors from external APIs mean and how to find the real cause — this error's family across 29 libraries.

Related errors

• failed to verify allowedDataset '%s' in project '%s': %w
• unable to iterate through query results: %w
• failed to create BigQuery client for project %q: %w
• failed to create BigQuery v2 service: %w
• failed to send request: %w

AI-assisted analysis of googleapis/mcp-toolbox@8cc6e09de2 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/15ae7058f77beedc. Report an issue: GitHub.