Invalid Text Representation — SQLSTATE 22P02

SQLSTATE 22P02 condition invalid_text_representation class 22 — Data 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

A text value could not be converted to the requested type.

  • The error is written to the server log and returned to the client carrying SQLSTATE 22P02.
  • 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 invalid_text_representation 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

An input string is not a valid literal for the target type — for example casting 'abc' to integer.

Common causes:

  • Bad casts like 'abc'::int or 'yes'::boolean.
  • Empty strings cast to numeric.
  • Passing text where a typed parameter is expected.
  • Invalid enum or uuid literals.

3 Recovery & verify Free

Steps to resolve 22P02:

  1. Validate and sanitize input before casting.
  2. Reject non-numeric values first with a regex or CASE.
  3. Map empty strings to NULL: NULLIF(txt, '')::int.
  4. Bind parameters with the correct types instead of concatenating SQL from strings.

Reference: PostgreSQL error codes — Class 22 (Data Exception).