temporalio/temporal · error

where expression is nil

Error message

where expression is nil

What it means

Filestore variant of the nil WHERE expression error, thrown by filestore queryParser.convertWhereExpr (common/archiver/filestore/query_parser.go) when the parsed SELECT has no WHERE expression. It is reached from Parse, convertParenExpr, and convertAndExpr; the filestore visibility query parser only supports filtering queries with a WHERE clause.

Source

Thrown at common/archiver/filestore/query_parser.go:73

		latestCloseTime:   time.Now().UTC(),
	}
	if strings.TrimSpace(query) == "" {
		return parsedQuery, nil
	}
	stmt, err := sqlparser.Parse(fmt.Sprintf(sqlquery.QueryTemplate, query))
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	whereExpr := stmt.(*sqlparser.Select).Where.Expr
	if err := p.convertWhereExpr(whereExpr, parsedQuery); err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	return parsedQuery, nil
}

func (p *queryParser) convertWhereExpr(expr sqlparser.Expr, parsedQuery *parsedQuery) error {
	if expr == nil {
		return errors.New("where expression is nil")
	}

	switch expr := expr.(type) {
	case *sqlparser.ComparisonExpr:
		return p.convertComparisonExpr(expr, parsedQuery)
	case *sqlparser.AndExpr:
		return p.convertAndExpr(expr, parsedQuery)
	case *sqlparser.ParenExpr:
		return p.convertParenExpr(expr, parsedQuery)
	default:
		return errors.New("only comparison and \"and\" expression is supported")
	}
}

func (p *queryParser) convertParenExpr(parenExpr *sqlparser.ParenExpr, parsedQuery *parsedQuery) error {
	return p.convertWhereExpr(parenExpr.Expr, parsedQuery)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to bde624efd1)

Solutions

1. Supply a valid WHERE clause with a WorkflowId or RunId equality condition (filestore queries key directly off these fields).
2. Check for empty/whitespace query strings before calling Parse and return a clearer caller-side error.
3. Use a direct GetHistory call (by namespace/run ID) instead of query parsing when you already know the run.
4. Note: unlike the gcloud parser, filestore does not require StartTime/CloseTime/SearchPrecision.

Example fix

// before
parsed, err := filestore.NewQueryParser().Parse("") // error: where expression is nil

// after
parsed, err := filestore.NewQueryParser().Parse("WorkflowId = 'my-workflow'")

if strings.TrimSpace(query) == "" {
	return nil, errors.New("filestore visibility query must contain a WHERE clause")
}
parsed, err := filestore.NewQueryParser().Parse(query)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling filestore.NewQueryParser().Parse("") or any input that yields a SELECT with a nil WHERE expr (e.g. empty query string substituted into sqlquery.QueryTemplate), or recursion into a nil parenthesized/AND sub-expression.

Common situations: Empty --query passed to `temporal workflow list` when the namespace uses filestore archival visibility; dynamically built queries where the condition was dropped; path/URI-only lookups that should not go through the query parser at all.

Related errors

• SearchPrecision is required when searching for a StartTime o
• where expression is nil
• only comparison and "and" expression is supported
• only comparison and "and" expression is supported
• failed to parse visibility filename %s

AI-assisted analysis of temporalio/temporal@bde624efd1 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3fb4c554365da8ff. Report an issue: GitHub.