thanos-io/thanos · error

no query configuration parameter was given

Error message

no query configuration parameter was given

What it means

The rule component needs at least one source of Query API endpoints: --query.sd-files, --query, --query.config (file/inline), or --grpc-query-endpoint. errors.New raises this when all four are empty, aborting startup because a rule Ruler without stores cannot evaluate queries.

Solutions

1. Pass at least one query endpoint, e.g. --query=thanos-query-frontend:9090 or --grpc-query-endpoint.
2. Provide a --query.config file listing endpoints if you need advanced settings.
3. Check the query config file actually contains endpoints (it may be empty or wrong file).
4. Fix the deployment template so the query address list is rendered into the rule args.

Example fix

// before
thanos rule --data-dir=/data --rule=...   # no query source
// after
thanos rule --data-dir=/data --rule=... --query=thanos-query:9090

def check_query_source(args):
    has_static = any(a.startswith(("--query=", "--query.sd-files=", "--grpc-query-endpoint=")) for a in args)
    has_file = any(a.startswith(("--query.config=", "--query.config-file=")) for a in args)
    if not has_static and not has_file:
        raise SystemExit("thanos rule requires --query, --query.sd-files, --query.config*, or --grpc-query-endpoint")

def has_query_source(arg_list):
    prefixes = ("--query", "--query.sd-files", "--grpc-query-endpoint", "--query.config")
    return any(a.split("=")[0] in prefixes for a in arg_list)

When it happens

Trigger: The Setup hook checks len(conf.query.sdFiles)==0 && len(conf.query.addrs)==0 && len(conf.queryConfigYAML)==0 && len(conf.grpcQueryEndpoints)==0 and returns this error when every source is unset.

Common situations: Deploying thanos rule with only store endpoints configured instead of query endpoints; forgetting the --query flag in a systemd unit; Helm values dropping the query address list; the query config file path given but file empty so Content() yields zero bytes.

Understand the failure class

Background: "--flag is required" and "must specify" CLI errors: how missing-required-flag validation works and how to fix it — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• parse labels
• parse alert query url
• --query/--query.sd-files/--grpc-query-endpoint and…
• level is bigger then default set of
• unknown sync strategy

AI-assisted analysis of thanos-io/thanos@35b8b99117 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b9a72f2b38b92a1d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cmd/thanos/rule.go:228

		}

		// Parse and check query configuration.
		lookupQueries := map[string]struct{}{}
		for _, q := range conf.query.addrs {
			if _, ok := lookupQueries[q]; ok {
				return errors.Errorf("Address %s is duplicated for --query flag.", q)
			}

			lookupQueries[q] = struct{}{}
		}

		conf.queryConfigYAML, err = conf.query.configPath.Content()
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

		if len(conf.query.sdFiles) == 0 && len(conf.query.addrs) == 0 && len(conf.queryConfigYAML) == 0 && len(conf.grpcQueryEndpoints) == 0 {
			return errors.New("no query configuration parameter was given")
		}
		if (len(conf.query.sdFiles) != 0 || len(conf.query.addrs) != 0 || len(conf.grpcQueryEndpoints) != 0) && len(conf.queryConfigYAML) != 0 {
			return errors.New("--query/--query.sd-files/--grpc-query-endpoint and --query.config* parameters cannot be defined at the same time")
		}

		// Parse and check alerting configuration.
		conf.alertmgrsConfigYAML, err = conf.alertmgr.configPath.Content()
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		if len(conf.alertmgrsConfigYAML) != 0 && len(conf.alertmgr.alertmgrURLs) != 0 {
			return errors.New("--alertmanagers.url and --alertmanagers.config* parameters cannot be defined at the same time")
		}

		conf.alertRelabelConfigYAML, err = conf.alertmgr.alertRelabelConfigPath.Content()
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}

View on GitHub (pinned to 35b8b99117)