PostgreSQL Error Reference

Every error, explained

SQLSTATE codes, condition names, root causes, diagnostic queries, and recovery steps — structured for engineers running PostgreSQL in production.

2125 errors documentedFree diagnostics on every pageAll PG versions covered

Showing 984 of 2125 errors

42501 ERROR

permission denied to create role — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to create role" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

new row violates row-level security policy (USING expression) for table “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "new row violates row-level security policy (USING expression) for table "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how t...

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to set role “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to set role "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

new row violates row-level security policy for table “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "new row violates row-level security policy for table "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied for schema … — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied for schema …" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied for table … — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied for table …" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied for sequence … — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied for sequence …" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

must be owner of relation … — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "must be owner of relation …" (SQLSTATE 42501): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied: “…” is a system catalog — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied: "…" is a system catalog" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to drop role — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to drop role" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to rename role — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to rename role" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to drop objects — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to drop objects" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to reassign objects — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to reassign objects" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to change owner of foreign-data wrapper “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to change owner of foreign-data wrapper "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to create foreign-data wrapper “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to create foreign-data wrapper "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to alter foreign-data wrapper “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to alter foreign-data wrapper "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to change owner of publication “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to change owner of publication "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to create tablespace “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to create tablespace "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

query would be affected by row-level security policy for table “…” — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "query would be affected by row-level security policy for table "…"" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to COPY to or from an external program — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to COPY to or from an external program" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to COPY from a file — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to COPY from a file" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

permission denied to COPY to a file — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "permission denied to COPY to a file" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

must be superuser to call …() — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "must be superuser to call …()" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation
42501 ERROR

must be owner of large object n — 42501

insufficient_privilege

PostgreSQL error "must be owner of large object n" (SQLSTATE 42501, insufficient_privilege): what it means, common causes, and how to fix it.

Syntax Error or Access Rule Violation