What causes "Cannot query: {err} (query: {query})" in influxdata/influxdb?

Read the wrapped err and echoed query to locate the failing SQL and cause.

influxdata/influxdb · error · QueryEndpointError::Fail

Cannot query: (query: )

Error message

Cannot query: {err} (query: {query})

What it means

QueryEndpointError::Fail wraps an underlying error plus the offending query string, formatted as 'Cannot query: {err} (query: {query})'. It is the error variant of the async QueryEndpoint trait, meaning a query execution failed for an implementation-defined reason. The wrapped err and echoed query identify the exact failure.

Solutions

Read the wrapped err and echoed query to locate the failing SQL and cause.
Validate the SQL against the actual schema (table/column names) before executing.
Handle the error in the endpoint consumer (retry transient failures, abort or skip on permanent SQL errors).

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

match endpoint.query(q).await {
    Ok(res) => ..., 
    Err(QueryEndpointError::Fail { err, query }) => {
        eprintln!("query failed: {err} (query: {query})");
    }
}

Prevention

Validate SQL table/column names against the live schema before executing.
Log the echoed query string on failure for fast diagnosis.
Distinguish transient vs permanent query errors for retry policy.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling query() on a QueryEndpoint implementation when execution fails: invalid SQL, missing table, engine error — anything the implementation wraps into Fail { err, query }.

Common situations: Typo'd table or field names in plugin queries; queries run before the table exists; SQL syntax unsupported by the embedded engine.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5601d35c5333d46a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at influxdb3_py_api/src/query.rs:8

use arrow_array::RecordBatch;
use async_trait::async_trait;
use std::collections::HashMap;
use thiserror::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Error)]
pub enum QueryEndpointError {
    #[error("Cannot query: {err} (query: {query})")]
    Fail {
        err: Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>,
        query: String,
    },
}

#[async_trait]
pub trait QueryEndpoint: std::fmt::Debug + Send + Sync + 'static {
    async fn query(
        &self,
        db: &str,
        query: &str,
        params: &HashMap<String, String>,
    ) -> Result<Vec<RecordBatch>, QueryEndpointError>;
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 06200ef96b)