laravel/framework · error · InvalidArgumentException

Index name contains invalid characters.

Error message

Index name contains invalid characters.

What it means

SQLiteGrammar::compileIndexHint() throws InvalidArgumentException when a force-type hint's index name fails the regex /^[a-zA-Z0-9_$]+$/. SQLite only supports INDEXED BY for forced index usage, so only forceIndex() is validated; use/ignore hints return an empty string and are skipped.

Source

Thrown at src/Illuminate/Database/Query/Grammars/SQLiteGrammar.php:185

    /**
     * Compile the index hints for the query.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Database\Query\Builder  $query
     * @param  \Illuminate\Database\Query\IndexHint  $indexHint
     * @return string
     *
     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException
     */
    protected function compileIndexHint(Builder $query, $indexHint)
    {
        if ($indexHint->type !== 'force') {
            return '';
        }

        $index = $indexHint->index;

        if (! preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9_$]+$/', $index)) {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException('Index name contains invalid characters.');
        }

        return "indexed by {$index}";
    }

    /**
     * Compile a "JSON length" statement into SQL.
     *
     * @param  string  $column
     * @param  string  $operator
     * @param  string  $value
     * @return string
     */
    protected function compileJsonLength($column, $operator, $value)
    {
        [$field, $path] = $this->wrapJsonFieldAndPath($column);

        return 'json_array_length('.$field.$path.') '.$operator.' '.$value;

View on GitHub (pinned to bd6b5437e6)

Solutions

1. Use the bare SQLite index name containing only [a-zA-Z0-9_$].
2. Avoid forceIndex on SQLite in tests, or guard it behind a driver check.
3. Rename the index to use underscores instead of hyphens/spaces.

Example fix

// before
$query->from('users')->forceIndex('idx-email-lookup');

// after
$query->from('users')->forceIndex('idx_email_lookup');

// SQLite only validates force-type hints
if ($query->getConnection()->getDriverName() === 'sqlite' && $hintType === 'force') {
    if (! preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9_$]+$/', $index)) {
        throw new \InvalidArgumentException("Invalid SQLite index name: {$index}");
    }
}
$query->from('users')->forceIndex($index);

function isValidSqliteIndexName(string $name): bool
{
    return (bool) preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9_$]+$/', $name);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling forceIndex($name) on a SQLite connection where $name contains characters outside [a-zA-Z0-9_$] (hyphen, space, dot, quotes). useIndex/ignoreIndex do not throw on SQLite because they compile to nothing.

Common situations: Sharing index-hint code between MySQL and SQLite tests where the index name format differs. Passing a quoted or dotted index identifier to forceIndex on SQLite.

Related errors

• Index name contains invalid characters.
• Index name contains invalid characters.
• The given password does not match the current password.
• You requested {$requested} items, but there are only {$count
• $count items were found.

AI-assisted analysis of laravel/framework@bd6b5437e6 (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/0773d9d928ddd9e6.json. Report an issue: GitHub.