jackc/pgx · error

cannot scan NULL into %T

Error message

cannot scan NULL into %T

What it means

Error "cannot scan NULL into %T" thrown in jackc/pgx.

Source

Thrown at pgtype/pgtype.go:412

	scanner := dst.(sql.Scanner)

	switch {
	case src == nil:
		// This is necessary because interface value []byte:nil does not equal nil:nil for the binary format path and the
		// text format path would be converted to empty string.
		return scanner.Scan(nil)
	case plan.formatCode == BinaryFormatCode:
		return scanner.Scan(src)
	default:
		return scanner.Scan(string(src))
	}
}

type scanPlanString struct{}

func (scanPlanString) Scan(src []byte, dst any) error {
	if src == nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("cannot scan NULL into %T", dst)
	}

	p := (dst).(*string)
	*p = string(src)
	return nil
}

type scanPlanAnyTextToBytes struct{}

func (scanPlanAnyTextToBytes) Scan(src []byte, dst any) error {
	dstBuf := dst.(*[]byte)
	if src == nil {
		*dstBuf = nil
		return nil
	}

	*dstBuf = make([]byte, len(src))
	copy(*dstBuf, src)

View on GitHub (pinned to ec1a0befd2)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pgtype/pgtype.go:412 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/096f258ce0c37be8.json. Report an issue: GitHub.