phalcon/cphalcon · error · ColumnTypeRejectsAutoIncrement

Column type cannot be auto-increment

Error message

Column type cannot be auto-increment

What it means

Phalcon\Db\Column allows 'autoIncrement' => true only for integer types: BIGINTEGER, INTEGER, MEDIUMINTEGER, SMALLINTEGER and TINYINTEGER. Requesting auto-increment on any other type (VARCHAR, DECIMAL, DATE, ...) throws ColumnTypeRejectsAutoIncrement before SQL generation - the database would reject it too.

Source

Thrown at phalcon/Db/Column.zep:685

        /**
         * Check if the field is auto-increment/serial
         */
        if fetch autoIncrement, definition["autoIncrement"] {
            if !autoIncrement {
                let this->autoIncrement = false;
            } else {
                switch type {
                    case self::TYPE_BIGINTEGER:
                    case self::TYPE_INTEGER:
                    case self::TYPE_MEDIUMINTEGER:
                    case self::TYPE_SMALLINTEGER:
                    case self::TYPE_TINYINTEGER:
                        let this->autoIncrement = true;
                        break;

                    default:
                        throw new ColumnTypeRejectsAutoIncrement();
                }
            }
        }

        /**
         * Check if the field is placed at the first position of the table
         */
        if fetch first, definition["first"] {
            let this->first = first;
        }

        /**
         * Name of the column which is placed before the current field
         */
        if fetch after, definition["after"] {
            let this->after = after;
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to b7419de9cd)

Solutions

1. Remove 'autoIncrement' from non-integer key columns and generate the key in application code (e.g. UUIDs).
2. Keep an integer type if you want database-side auto-increment.
3. Emit 'autoIncrement' only when the type is in the integer TYPE_* set.

Example fix

// before
$column = new Column('uuid', [
    'type'          => Column::TYPE_VARCHAR,
    'size'          => 36,
    'primary'       => true,
    'autoIncrement' => true, // throws ColumnTypeRejectsAutoIncrement
]);

// after
$column = new Column('uuid', [
    'type'    => Column::TYPE_VARCHAR,
    'size'    => 36,
    'primary' => true,
]); // generate UUIDs in application code

$aiTypes = [
    Column::TYPE_BIGINTEGER, Column::TYPE_INTEGER, Column::TYPE_MEDIUMINTEGER,
    Column::TYPE_SMALLINTEGER, Column::TYPE_TINYINTEGER,
];
if (!empty($definition['autoIncrement'])
    && !in_array($definition['type'], $aiTypes, true)) {
    unset($definition['autoIncrement']);
}
$column = new Column('uuid', $definition);

function typeSupportsAutoIncrement(int $type): bool
{
    return in_array($type, [
        Column::TYPE_BIGINTEGER, Column::TYPE_INTEGER, Column::TYPE_MEDIUMINTEGER,
        Column::TYPE_SMALLINTEGER, Column::TYPE_TINYINTEGER,
    ], true);
}

When it happens

Trigger: new Column('uuid', ['type' => Column::TYPE_VARCHAR, 'primary' => true, 'autoIncrement' => true]); copying an integer id blueprint onto a string key; autoIncrement on DECIMAL (which MySQL itself disallows).

Common situations: Switching primary keys from int to UUID/string without removing autoIncrement; generic BaseModel schemas marking every primary key auto-increment; migrations cloned from an integer-keyed table; ORM defaults leaking into custom columns.

Related errors

• Generated column cannot also be auto-increment
• Column type is required
• Column type does not support scale parameter
• Column generation expression must be a string
• Generated column cannot have a default value

AI-assisted analysis of phalcon/cphalcon@b7419de9cd (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/26b46b1ac9f1d0d2. Report an issue: GitHub.