knex/knex · error · Error

Json superset is not supported by Redshift

Error message

Json superset is not supported by Redshift

What it means

redshift-querycompiler.js:150 stubs whereJsonSupersetOf to throw. Redshift lacks a JSON containment operator (Postgres jsonb @> has no equivalent), so a 'where JSON contains X' predicate cannot be compiled. Knex throws at compile time instead of producing an error from the server.

Source

Thrown at lib/dialects/redshift/query/redshift-querycompiler.js:151

  jsonInsert(params) {
    throw new Error('Json insert is not supported by Redshift');
  }

  jsonRemove(params) {
    throw new Error('Json remove is not supported by Redshift');
  }

  whereJsonPath(statement) {
    return this._whereJsonPath(
      'json_extract_path_text',
      Object.assign({}, statement, {
        path: this.client.toPathForJson(statement.path),
      })
    );
  }

  whereJsonSupersetOf(statement) {
    throw new Error('Json superset is not supported by Redshift');
  }

  whereJsonSubsetOf(statement) {
    throw new Error('Json subset is not supported by Redshift');
  }

  onJsonPathEquals(clause) {
    return this._onJsonPathEquals('json_extract_path_text', clause);
  }
}

module.exports = QueryCompiler_Redshift;

View on GitHub (pinned to e25d54bcb7)

Solutions

  1. Denormalize the searchable keys into indexed columns or a child table and filter on those.
  2. Pull candidate rows (filtered by cheaper predicates) and apply the containment test in JavaScript.
  3. If using Redshift SUPER columns, express containment via PartiQL in a raw where clause.

Example fix

// before
await knex('docs').whereJsonSupersetOf('payload', { tags: 'x' });

// after (filter in JS after a coarse select)
const rows = await knex('docs').select('*');
const matches = rows.filter(r =>
  Object.entries({ tags: 'x' }).every(([k,v]) => r.payload?.[k] === v)
);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

function supportsJsonSuperset(client) {
  return !/redshift/i.test(client.dialect || client.driverName || '');
}
if (supportsJsonSuperset(knex.client)) {
  await knex('docs').whereJsonSupersetOf('payload', { tags: 'x' });
}

Type guard

function isRedshiftDialect(client) {
  const d = (client && (client.dialect || client.driverName)) || '';
  return /redshift/i.test(d);
}

Try / catch

try {
  await knex('docs').whereJsonSupersetOf('payload', { tags: 'x' });
} catch (err) {
  if (/Json superset is not supported by Redshift/i.test(err.message)) {
    // denormalize tags into a column, or filter in JS
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling any builder method that routes to whereJsonSupersetOf on a Redshift connection: knex('t').whereJsonSupersetOf('payload', {a:1}), or a higher-level helper that emits a superset predicate.

Common situations: Cross-dialect query builders assuming PG jsonb operators; migrating tag/attribute filtering from Postgres to Redshift; analytics pipelines that previously filtered by jsonb containment.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of knex/knex@e25d54bcb7 (2026-08-03). Data as JSON: /data/errors/d2756c6c1e53f69b.json. Report an issue: GitHub.