The error appears when a query references a table, CTE, or alias that the parser cannot find in the current scope.
“Unknown table expression” means PostgreSQL cannot find the referenced table, CTE, or alias in the query’s FROM clause. Verify spelling, casing, and CTE scopes—then add or correct the missing table reference to resolve the error.
ERROR: unknown table expression "<identifier>"
PostgreSQL raises the message when it encounters a table, CTE, or alias name that is not listed—or no longer valid—in the current FROM clause or sub-query scope.
The planner stops because it cannot attach columns to a missing relation. Queries containing typos, misplaced aliases, or wrongly scoped CTEs routinely trigger the error.
The error appears at parse time, before execution, so no data is modified.
It commonly shows up during JOINs, DELETEs using USING, UPDATE … FROM clauses, window functions, and WITH statements.
Leaving the issue unfixed blocks query execution, halts application features, and generates confusing user-facing messages. Resolving it early prevents downtime and guards against silent logic errors caused by fallback work-arounds.
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Unquoted identifiers are folded to lowercase. Quoted names are case-sensitive and must be matched exactly.
Yes. If the active schema list hides a previously visible table, the relation becomes unknown.
Galaxy’s context-aware autocomplete shows only in-scope tables and CTE aliases, preventing typos and scoping mistakes.
No. The parser must know every relation. The only fix is correcting or adding the missing table expression.
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