Triggered Action Exception — SQLSTATE 09000

SQLSTATE 09000 condition triggered_action_exception class 09 — Triggered Action Exception severity ERROR
Reproduced & verified on PostgreSQL 14.23, 15.18, 16.14, 17.10 and 18.4 — identical message on every version.
Last reviewed 29 May 2025 · Reproduced live with the SQL on this page.

! Symptoms Free

The server reports SQLSTATE 09000 (triggered_action_exception), a condition in the Triggered Action Exception class.

  • The error is written to the server log and returned to the client carrying SQLSTATE 09000.
  • Any driver (libpq, JDBC, psycopg, npgsql, pgx) surfaces this code in its error object so you can branch on it programmatically.
  • PL/pgSQL can trap it by name: EXCEPTION WHEN triggered_action_exception THEN.

1 Environment & reproduce Free

Severity: ERROR  |  PostgreSQL versions: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Reproduce with the exact statement and read the full message in the server log (raise log_min_messages / set log_min_error_statement for more context).

? Root cause Free

09000 belongs to Class 09 — Triggered Action Exception. In this class, a trigger raised an error while firing.

The first two characters (09) identify the error class, so application code can match the whole class via 09000 when the specific code is not needed.

3 Recovery & verify Free

Inspect the trigger function logic and the row that fired it; the real cause is inside the trigger body.

Reference: PostgreSQL error codes — Class 09 (Triggered Action Exception).