laravel/framework · error · LogicException

This database engine does not support the updateFrom method.

Error message

This database engine does not support the updateFrom method.

What it means

Thrown by updateFrom when the underlying grammar does not define compileUpdateFrom. The PostgreSQL FROM-style UPDATE (UPDATE t SET ... FROM other WHERE ...) is Postgres-specific; only PostgresGrammar implements it. Calling updateFrom on MySQL, SQLite, or SQL Server grammar is a programmer error, not a runtime data problem.

Source

Thrown at src/Illuminate/Database/Query/Builder.php:4336

        $sql = $this->grammar->compileUpdate($this, $values->map(fn ($value) => $value['value'])->all());

        return $this->connection->update($sql, $this->cleanBindings(
            $this->grammar->prepareBindingsForUpdate($this->bindings, $values->map(fn ($value) => $value['bindings'])->all())
        ));
    }

    /**
     * Update records in a PostgreSQL database using the update from syntax.
     *
     * @return int
     *
     * @throws \LogicException
     */
    public function updateFrom(array $values)
    {
        if (! method_exists($this->grammar, 'compileUpdateFrom')) {
            throw new LogicException('This database engine does not support the updateFrom method.');
        }

        $this->applyBeforeQueryCallbacks();

        $sql = $this->grammar->compileUpdateFrom($this, $values);

        return $this->connection->update($sql, $this->cleanBindings(
            $this->grammar->prepareBindingsForUpdateFrom($this->bindings, $values)
        ));
    }

    /**
     * Insert or update a record matching the attributes, and fill it with values.
     *
     * @return bool
     */
    public function updateOrInsert(array $attributes, array|callable $values = [])
    {

View on GitHub (pinned to bd6b5437e6)

Solutions

1. Switch to Postgres for that connection, or use the cross-driver `update()` with a join on grammars that support it.
2. Gate the call: `if (DB::getDriverName() === 'pgsql') { $q->updateFrom(...); } else { /* fallback */ }`.
3. Refactor to a driver-agnostic equivalent (two-step select-then-update, or whereIn with a subquery).
4. Ensure test DB matches production driver to surface the incompatibility early.

Example fix

// before
DB::table('users')
    ->whereIn('id', fn ($q) => $q->select('user_id')->from('banned'))
    ->updateFrom(['status' => 'banned']);
// on MySQL => This database engine does not support the updateFrom method.

// after
DB::table('users')
    ->whereIn('id', fn ($q) => $q->select('user_id')->from('banned'))
    ->update(['status' => 'banned']);

if (! method_exists(DB::connection()->getQueryGrammar(), 'compileUpdateFrom')) {
    throw new \LogicException('Driver '.DB::getDriverName().' does not support updateFrom; use update() with a join or subquery.');
}

function driverSupportsUpdateFrom(\Illuminate\Database\Connection $c): bool
{
    return method_exists($c->getQueryGrammar(), 'compileUpdateFrom');
}

try {
    $q->updateFrom($values);
} catch (\LogicException $e) {
    if (str_contains($e->getMessage(), 'does not support the updateFrom')) {
        // fall back to a driver-agnostic update with whereIn subquery
        $q->update($values);
    } else { throw $e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Writing `DB::table('t')->join('u', ...)->updateFrom([...])` against MySQL. Running code in a test suite backed by SQLite when production is Postgres. Calling updateFrom inside a connection-agnostic helper that runs on multiple drivers.

Common situations: Local dev on SQLite/MySQL vs production Postgres; multi-tenant codebases where some tenants are on different DB drivers; copy-pasting Postgres-specific recipes into shared code.

Related errors

• This database engine does not support JSON operations.
• The chunkById operation was aborted because the [{$alias}] c
• No record found for the given query.
• $count records were found.
• Property [{$key}] does not exist on the Eloquent builder ins

AI-assisted analysis of laravel/framework@bd6b5437e6 (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/5b775b3b17d46dde.json. Report an issue: GitHub.