influxdata/influxdb · error · Error::InfluxqlNoDatabase

must specify a 'db' parameter, or provide the database in…

Error message

must specify a 'db' parameter, or provide the database in the InfluxQL query

What it means

The v1 query API needs a target database, taken either from the `db` request parameter or from the query itself (e.g. `ON <db>` clause). When neither is present this error is thrown. It prevents executing a query with no resolvable namespace.

Solutions

Add the `db` query parameter to the request, e.g. `?db=mydb&q=...`.
Alternatively include the database in the query: `SELECT * FROM "mydb"."autogen".cpu`.
Configure the client/datasource default database so `db` is always sent.

Example fix

// before
GET /query?q=SELECT+*+FROM+cpu
// after
GET /query?db=mydb&q=SELECT+*+FROM+cpu

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function resolveDatabase(params, q) {
  const onMatch = /\bON\s+["'`]?([\w-]+)/i.exec(q);
  if (!params.db && !onMatch) {
    throw new Error("query requires a 'db' parameter or ON <db> clause");
  }
  return params.db ?? onMatch[1];
}

Prevention

Always send the `db` parameter from a single well-known client config value.
Centralize query construction so the database is injected in one place.
Include the database in fully-qualified FROM clauses when omitting `db`.

When it happens

Trigger: GET/POST to the v1 /query endpoint without a `db` parameter and with an InfluxQL statement that does not specify a database (no `ON` clause), e.g. `GET /query?q=SELECT * FROM cpu`.

Common situations: Forgetting the `db` query parameter when migrating 1.x clients; dropping the `ON` clause when converting queries; misconfigured dashboards that omit the datasource default DB.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of influxdata/influxdb@06200ef96b (2026-09-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a46e5cf585fe103a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/iox_v1_query_api/src/error.rs:58

    /// Serde decode error
    #[error("error decoding params from url: {0}")]
    SerdeUrlDecoding(#[from] serde_urlencoded::de::Error),

    // SerdeJsonError
    #[error("error decoding query body: {0}")]
    SerdeJson(#[from] serde_json::Error),

    #[error("datafusion error: {0}")]
    Datafusion(#[from] DataFusionError),

    #[error("error in InfluxQL statement: {0}")]
    InfluxqlRewrite(#[from] rewrite::Error),

    #[error("must provide only one InfluxQl statement per query")]
    InfluxqlSingleStatement,

    #[error("must specify a 'db' parameter, or provide the database in the InfluxQL query")]
    InfluxqlNoDatabase,

    #[error(
        "provided a database in both the parameters ({param_db}) and \
        query string ({query_db}) that do not match, if providing a query \
        that specifies the database, you can omit the 'database' parameter \
        from your request"
    )]
    InfluxqlDatabaseMismatch { param_db: String, query_db: String },

    #[error(
        "provided a retention policy in both the parameters ({param_rp}) and \
        query string ({query_rp}) that do not match, if providing a query \
        that specifies the retention_policy, you can omit the 'rp' parameter \
        from your request"
    )]
    InfluxqlRetentionPolicyMismatch { param_rp: String, query_rp: String },

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