prestodb/presto · error · SemanticException

NOT_SUPPORTED

NOT_SUPPORTED

Error message

 is not supported

What it means

SemanticExceptions.notSupportedException wraps an arbitrary feature description into a NOT_SUPPORTED SemanticException, appending ' is not supported'. It is Presto's generic rejection path for SQL features the analyzer does not implement.

Source

Thrown at presto-analyzer/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/sql/analyzer/SemanticExceptions.java:46

    private SemanticExceptions() {}

    public static SemanticException missingAttributeException(Expression node, QualifiedName name)
    {
        throw new SemanticException(
                MISSING_ATTRIBUTE,
                node,
                name.getPrefix().isPresent() ? "'%s' cannot be resolved" : "Column '%s' cannot be resolved",
                name);
    }

    public static SemanticException ambiguousAttributeException(Expression node, QualifiedName name)
    {
        throw new SemanticException(AMBIGUOUS_ATTRIBUTE, node, "Column '%s' is ambiguous", name);
    }

    public static SemanticException notSupportedException(Node node, String notSupportedFeatureDescription)
    {
        throw new SemanticException(NOT_SUPPORTED, node, notSupportedFeatureDescription + " is not supported");
    }

    public static String subQueryNotSupportedError(Node node, String notSupportedFeatureDescription)
    {
        if (node.getLocation().isPresent()) {
            NodeLocation nodeLocation = node.getLocation().get();
            return format("line %s:%s: %s", nodeLocation.getLineNumber(), nodeLocation.getColumnNumber(), notSupportedFeatureDescription + " is not supported");
        }
        return notSupportedFeatureDescription + " is not supported";
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

  1. Read the full message to identify the unsupported feature
  2. Rewrite the query using supported constructs (e.g. move a subquery into a CTE/JOIN)
  3. Upgrade Presto if the feature is supported in a newer release

Example fix

-- before
SELECT * FROM t WHERE (SELECT max(x) FROM t2) = y   -- subquery not supported here
-- after
WITH m AS (SELECT max(x) AS mx FROM t2)
SELECT t.* FROM t, m WHERE m.mx = t.y
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try { /* run query */ } catch (SemanticException e) { if ("NOT_SUPPORTED".equals(e.getErrorCode().getName())) { log.warn("Unsupported feature: {}", e.getMessage()); /* rewrite query */ } throw e; }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Using a SQL construct that the current Presto analyzer/connector does not support, passed in as notSupportedFeatureDescription by the caller (e.g. certain subquery placements, DDL features, or expressions).

Common situations: Migrating queries from other engines (MySQL, Hive, Snowflake) with non-standard syntax; using newer SQL features on an older Presto version.

Understand the failure class

Background: Presto NOT_SUPPORTED error: what "not supported" means and how to fix it — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/619be11f4f7421ec. Report an issue: GitHub.