cannot scan into non-pointer or nil destinations %T

Error message

cannot scan into non-pointer or nil destinations %T

What it means

Error "cannot scan into non-pointer or nil destinations %T" thrown in jackc/pgx.

Source

Thrown at pgtype/pgtype.go:502

}

// TryWrapScanPlanFunc is a function that tries to create a wrapper plan for target. If successful it returns a plan
// that will convert the target passed to Scan and then call the next plan. nextTarget is target as it will be converted
// by plan. It must be used to find another suitable ScanPlan. When it is found SetNext must be called on plan for it
// to be usabled. ok indicates if a suitable wrapper was found.
type TryWrapScanPlanFunc func(target any) (plan WrappedScanPlanNextSetter, nextTarget any, ok bool)

type pointerPointerScanPlan struct {
	dstType reflect.Type
	next    ScanPlan
}

func (plan *pointerPointerScanPlan) SetNext(next ScanPlan) { plan.next = next }

func (plan *pointerPointerScanPlan) Scan(src []byte, dst any) error {
	dstValue := reflect.ValueOf(dst)
	if dstValue.Kind() != reflect.Pointer || dstValue.IsNil() {
		return fmt.Errorf("cannot scan into non-pointer or nil destinations %T", dst)
	}

	el := dstValue.Elem()
	if src == nil {
		el.Set(reflect.Zero(el.Type()))
		return nil
	}

	el.Set(reflect.New(el.Type().Elem()))
	return plan.next.Scan(src, el.Interface())
}

// TryPointerPointerScanPlan handles a pointer to a pointer by setting the target to nil for SQL NULL and allocating and
// scanning for non-NULL.
func TryPointerPointerScanPlan(target any) (plan WrappedScanPlanNextSetter, nextTarget any, ok bool) {
	if dstType := reflect.TypeOf(target); dstType != nil && dstType.Kind() == reflect.Pointer {
		elemType := dstType.Elem()
		if elemType.Kind() == reflect.Pointer {

View on GitHub (pinned to ec1a0befd2)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pgtype/pgtype.go:502 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of jackc/pgx@ec1a0befd2 (2026-08-04). Data as JSON: /data/errors/4d6d2a4c020ea061.json. Report an issue: GitHub.