risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · ErrorCode

Invalid input syntax: {0}

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.

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(

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)

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
• Catalog error: {0}
• Invalid reference: {0}
• Item not found: {0}
• Duplicate Relation Name: {0}

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