risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · PsqlError

Failed to run the query

Error message

Failed to run the query: {0}

What it means

pgwire wraps errors raised while executing a simple-query (text protocol 'Q' message) into PsqlError::SimpleQueryError with this display message. The BoxedError source is the actual error from the frontend planner/executor (SQL syntax, permission, catalog errors, etc.).

Solutions

1. Inspect the #[source] BoxedError for the concrete frontend error message.
2. Fix the SQL statement reported by the source error (syntax, object names, permissions).
3. Try the query via extended protocol/prepared statements to get richer error positioning if the message is unclear.
4. Check frontend/meta service logs for the corresponding query execution error.

Example fix

// before: swallowing inner cause
Err(PsqlError::SimpleQueryError(e)) => error!("query failed");
// after: surface the source
Err(PsqlError::SimpleQueryError(e)) => error!("query failed: {e}; source: {:?}", e.source());

// lint SQL with a parser before sending simple queries
let parsed = pg_query::parse(sql);
if parsed.is_err() { return Err("invalid SQL syntax"); }

fn is_simple_query_error(e: &PsqlError) -> bool { matches!(e, PsqlError::SimpleQueryError(_)) }

match client.simple_query(sql).await {
    Err(e) if is_simple_query_error(&e) => { log::error!("query failed: {e}; cause: {:?}", e.source()); surface_to_user(e); }
    other => other,
}

When it happens

Trigger: A client sends a simple query via psql or any driver using the text protocol, and query planning or execution in the frontend returns an error (parse failure, unhandled statement type, runtime failure).

Common situations: SQL syntax errors; unsupported statements sent via simple protocol; permission/catalog errors (missing table); frontend panics or timeouts surfaced during execution.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to prepare the statement
• {0}
• {0}
• AFTER MATCH SKIP TO FIRST/LAST missing its target variable
• ALTER SINK_RATE_LIMIT is not for sink into table

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6d1c1af27b013b01. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/utils/pgwire/src/error.rs:44

pub enum PsqlError {
    #[error("Failed to start a new session: {0}")]
    StartupError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,
    ),

    #[error("Invalid password")]
    PasswordError,

    #[error("Protocol violation: {0}")]
    ProtocolError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        ProtocolViolationError,
    ),

    #[error("Failed to run the query: {0}")]
    SimpleQueryError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,
    ),

    #[error("Failed to prepare the statement: {0}")]
    ExtendedPrepareError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,
    ),

    #[error("Failed to execute the statement: {0}")]
    ExtendedExecuteError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,

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