hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · QueryException

JSON path does not point to a valid array index: ${jsonPath}

Error message

JSON path does not point to a valid array index: ${jsonPath}

What it means

Error "JSON path does not point to a valid array index: ${jsonPath}" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/function/json/SQLServerJsonArrayInsertFunction.java:45

	public void render(
			SqlAppender sqlAppender,
			List<? extends SqlAstNode> arguments,
			ReturnableType<?> returnType,
			SqlAstTranslator<?> translator) {
		final String jsonPath = translator.<String>getLiteralValue( (Expression) arguments.get( 1 ) ).trim();
		final int bracketEndIndex = jsonPath.lastIndexOf( ']' );
		final int bracketStartIndex = jsonPath.lastIndexOf( '[' );
		if ( jsonPath.isEmpty()
				|| bracketEndIndex != jsonPath.length() - 1
				|| bracketStartIndex == -1 ) {
			throw new QueryException( "JSON path does not end with an array index: " + jsonPath );
		}
		final int index;
		try {
			index = Integer.parseInt( jsonPath.substring( bracketStartIndex + 1, bracketEndIndex ) );
		}
		catch ( NumberFormatException e ) {
			throw new QueryException( "JSON path does not point to a valid array index: " + jsonPath );
		}
		final Expression json = (Expression) arguments.get( 0 );
		final SqlAstNode value = arguments.get( 2 );
		// Only replace data if this is an array
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "(select case when left(json_query(x.d,x.p),1)='[' then " );
		// Replace the array
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "json_modify(x.d,x.p,json_query((" );
		// Aggregate a new JSON array based on element rows
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "select '['+string_agg(t.v,',') within group (order by t.k)+']' from (" );

		sqlAppender.appendSql( "select x.i k,x.v v union all " );
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "select case when cast(t.[key] as int)>=x.i then cast(t.[key] as int)+1 " );
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "else cast(t.[key] as int) end," );
		// type 0 is a null literal
		sqlAppender.appendSql( "case t.type when 0 then 'null' when 1 then ");
		// type 1 is a string literal. to quote it, we use for json path and trim the string down to just the value
		sqlAppender.appendSql(
				"(select substring(a.v,6,len(a.v)-6) from (select t.value a for json path,without_array_wrapper) a(v))" );

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use a valid numeric array index within bounds.

When it happens

Trigger: Triggered when the application calls a Hibernate dialect feature that the configured database dialect cannot provide: JSON path does not point to a valid array index (SQL Server).

Common situations: Common when running against a database whose dialect lacks this capability, when a mapping or HQL/Criteria query requests unsupported functionality, or when the wrong dialect is configured for the database in use. Error: JSON path does not point to a valid array index (SQL Server).

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed95925f4818c1d6. Report an issue: GitHub.