vitessio/vitess · error

unrecognized query

Error message

unrecognized query

What it means

fakevtsql.ErrUnrecognizedQuery is returned by QueryContext when the fake vtsql driver receives a query string it was not configured to handle. The fake only responds to queries registered in its expectations; anything else yields this sentinel. It signals a mismatch between the mock setup and the SQL issued.

Source

Thrown at go/vt/vtadmin/vtsql/fakevtsql/conn.go:41

	"fmt"
	"strings"

	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"

	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo/topoproto"
	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vtadmin/vtadminproto"

	vtadminpb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/vtadmin"
)

var (
	// ErrConnClosed is returend when attempting to query a closed connection.
	// It is the identical message to vtsql.ErrConnClosed, but redefined to
	// prevent an import cycle in package vtsql's tests.
	ErrConnClosed = errors.New("use of closed connection")
	// ErrUnrecognizedQuery is returned when QueryCnotext is given a query
	// string the mock is not set up to handle.
	ErrUnrecognizedQuery = errors.New("unrecognized query")
)

type conn struct {
	tablets   []*vtadminpb.Tablet
	shouldErr bool
}

var (
	_ driver.Conn           = (*conn)(nil)
	_ driver.QueryerContext = (*conn)(nil)
)

func (c *conn) Begin() (driver.Tx, error) {
	return nil, nil
}

func (c *conn) Close() error {
	return nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 01a25a7d17)

Solutions

1. Update the fake's registered query/expectation to match the exact query string the code issues
2. Compare the actual query text produced by the code with the string registered on the fake
3. Regenerate or refresh the test fixture if the SQL in production code changed

Example fix

// before
fake := fakevtsql.New().WithExpectedResults("select id from tablets", rows)
// code now runs "select id, hostname from tablets"
// after
fake := fakevtsql.New().WithExpectedResults("select id, hostname from tablets", rows)

// ensure the fake knows the exact query before exercising code
fake.WithExpectedResults("select id, hostname from tablets", rows)

func isUnrecognizedQuery(err error) bool { return errors.Is(err, fakevtsql.ErrUnrecognizedQuery) }

rows, err := conn.QueryContext(ctx, q)
if errors.Is(err, fakevtsql.ErrUnrecognizedQuery) {
    t.Fatalf("fakevtsql missing expectation for query %q", q)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Code under test issues a query string that the fake's expected-query map does not contain; whitespace/placeholder differences make the strings unequal; a new query was added to production code without updating the test fixture.

Common situations: Writing or updating vtadmin unit tests after changing a SQL statement; typos in test expectations; normalization mismatches between the query as written and as configured.

Related errors

• use of closed connection
• bad sql row
• err rows closed
• not allowed: deny-all security-policy enforced
• not allowed: read-only security-policy enforced

AI-assisted analysis of vitessio/vitess@01a25a7d17 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bda293d0ad05a9c6. Report an issue: GitHub.