risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · ErrorCode

Invalid input syntax

Error message

Invalid input syntax: {0}

What it means

RisingWave frontend's ErrorCode::InvalidInputSyntax variant, rendered as "Invalid input syntax: {0}". It marks user input whose syntax is invalid for the requested operation, most commonly in aggregate function binding (src/frontend/src/binder/expr/function/aggregate.rs:37 and many later sites) where arguments or string parameters to aggregates do not parse.

Solutions

1. Check the exact aggregate signature in RisingWave docs and fix the argument syntax.
2. Remove engine-specific constructs (unsupported FILTER/ORDER BY forms) or rewrite with equivalent expressions.
3. Quote/escape string arguments correctly and confirm allowed values for parameters.
4. If the syntax is valid in Postgres but rejected here, file a compatibility issue with the query.

Example fix

// before
SELECT string_agg(name ORDER BY id DESC, ',') FROM t; -- invalid arg syntax
// after
SELECT string_agg(name, ',' ORDER BY id DESC) FROM t;

// validate aggregate argument strings against allowed values before building SQL
if (!['ASC','DESC'].includes(dir)) throw new Error('bad agg arg');

try { await db.query(sql) } catch (e) {
  if (/Invalid input syntax:/.test(e.message)) { console.error('fix aggregate syntax:', e.message); throw e; }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling an aggregate with an invalid string argument (e.g. unknown mode/parameter syntax); GROUPING/ORDER-BY-within-aggregate constructs that don't parse; string literals passed to aggregates that expect a specific syntax.

Common situations: Porting Postgres-specific aggregate syntax that RisingWave doesn't parse yet; typos in aggregate parameter strings (e.g. ORDER BY / DISTINCT usage); copy-pasted SQL from other engines.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• backfill order strategy
• {0}
• ALTER SINK_RATE_LIMIT is not for sink into table
• ALTER SOURCE_RATE_LIMIT is not for table without source
• BOTH, LEADING, or TRAILING

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/27f18894ccf1f021. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/frontend/src/error.rs:161

    #[error("Scheduler error: {0}")]
    SchedulerError(
        #[source]
        #[backtrace]
        BoxedError,
    ),
    #[error("Task not found")]
    TaskNotFound,
    #[error("Session not found")]
    SessionNotFound,
    #[error("Invalid reference: {0}")]
    InvalidReference(String),
    #[error("Item not found: {0}")]
    ItemNotFound(String),
    #[error("Duplicate Relation Name: {0}")]
    DuplicateRelationName(String),
    #[error("Invalid insert operation: {0}")]
    InsertViolation(String),
    #[error("Invalid input syntax: {0}")]
    InvalidInputSyntax(#[message] String),
    #[error("Cannot compare in memory: {0}")]
    MemComparableError(#[from] memcomparable::Error),
    #[error("Error while de/se values: {0}")]
    ValueEncodingError(
        #[from]
        #[backtrace]
        ValueEncodingError,
    ),
    #[error("Invalid value `{config_value}` for `{config_entry}`")]
    InvalidConfigValue {
        config_entry: String,
        config_value: String,
    },
    #[error("Invalid parameter value: {0}")]
    InvalidParameterValue(String),
    #[error("Sink error: {0}")]
    SinkError(

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