risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · anyhow::Error

missing array type

Error message

missing array type

What it means

When converting a SeaQL type back to a Postgres type (`sea_type_to_pg_type`, used by `type_mapping`), an `Array` element without a `col_type` cannot be mapped to a concrete Pg array type, so the function bails with 'missing array type'.

Source

Thrown at src/connector/src/connector_common/postgres.rs:801

        SeaType::DoublePrecision => Ok(PgType::FLOAT8),
        SeaType::Varchar(_) => Ok(PgType::VARCHAR),
        SeaType::Char(_) => Ok(PgType::CHAR),
        SeaType::Text => Ok(PgType::TEXT),
        SeaType::Bytea => Ok(PgType::BYTEA),
        SeaType::Timestamp(_) => Ok(PgType::TIMESTAMP),
        SeaType::TimestampWithTimeZone(_) => Ok(PgType::TIMESTAMPTZ),
        SeaType::Date => Ok(PgType::DATE),
        SeaType::Time(_) => Ok(PgType::TIME),
        SeaType::TimeWithTimeZone(_) => Ok(PgType::TIMETZ),
        SeaType::Interval(_) => Ok(PgType::INTERVAL),
        SeaType::Boolean => Ok(PgType::BOOL),
        SeaType::Point => Ok(PgType::POINT),
        SeaType::Uuid => Ok(PgType::UUID),
        SeaType::Json => Ok(PgType::JSON),
        SeaType::JsonBinary => Ok(PgType::JSONB),
        SeaType::Array(t) => {
            let Some(t) = t.col_type.as_ref() else {
                bail!("missing array type")
            };
            match t.as_ref() {
                // RW only supports 1 level of nesting.
                SeaType::SmallInt => Ok(PgType::INT2_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Integer => Ok(PgType::INT4_ARRAY),
                SeaType::BigInt => Ok(PgType::INT8_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Decimal(_) => Ok(PgType::NUMERIC_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Numeric(_) => Ok(PgType::NUMERIC_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Real => Ok(PgType::FLOAT4_ARRAY),
                SeaType::DoublePrecision => Ok(PgType::FLOAT8_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Varchar(_) => Ok(PgType::VARCHAR_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Char(_) => Ok(PgType::CHAR_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Text => Ok(PgType::TEXT_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Bytea => Ok(PgType::BYTEA_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Timestamp(_) => Ok(PgType::TIMESTAMP_ARRAY),
                SeaType::TimestampWithTimeZone(_) => Ok(PgType::TIMESTAMPTZ_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Date => Ok(PgType::DATE_ARRAY),
                SeaType::Time(_) => Ok(PgType::TIME_ARRAY),

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)

Solutions

1. Ensure the upstream array column is a single-level array of a supported scalar type (`int[]`, `text[]`, `numeric[]`, etc.)
2. Cast problematic columns to `text` upstream and parse in RisingWave
3. Re-run schema discovery after normalizing the upstream table definition

Example fix

-- before
CREATE TABLE t (tags TEXT[][]);
-- after
CREATE TABLE t (tags TEXT[]);

fn pg_array_has_element(t: &SeaType) -> bool {
    matches!(t, SeaType::Array(def) if def.col_type.is_some())
}

fn is_well_typed_array(t: &SeaType) -> bool {
    match t {
        SeaType::Array(def) => def.col_type.as_ref()
            .map(|inner| !matches!(inner.as_ref(), SeaType::Array(_)))
            .unwrap_or(false),
        _ => true,
    }
}

let mapping = type_mapping(...).map_err(|e| {
    if e.to_string().contains("missing array type") {
        PlanError::UnsupportedArrayColumn(e)
    } else { PlanError::Other(e) }
})?;

When it happens

Trigger: `type_mapping` invoking `sea_type_to_pg_type` on an array column whose `SeaType::Array(t)` inner `col_type` is `None`.

Common situations: Schema discovery producing array columns without element type info (e.g. multi-dimensional arrays like `text[][]`, or discovery bugs on exotic element types).

Related errors

• ARRAY type missing element type
• unsupported array type: {:?}
• {:?} data type is not supported
• pgvector type `vector` is missing dimension, expected `vecto
• nested array type is not supported

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/986db039bd4f6f2c. Report an issue: GitHub.