Fix sql-compiler to handle empty strings like `eq(column, '')` #1146

KyleAMathews · 2026-01-17T00:04:41Z

Summary

Fixes empty string values being incorrectly treated as NULL in SQL queries. Queries like eq(status, '') now correctly generate WHERE status = '' instead of silently omitting the parameter.

Reviewer Guidance

Root Cause

The sql-compiler's param filtering logic was checking if the serialized value was an empty string (serialized !== '') to decide whether to include a param. This conflated two distinct cases:

A value that serializes to empty string because it IS an empty string (legitimate)
A null/undefined value that also happens to serialize to empty string (should be omitted)

This caused legitimate empty string queries to break silently — the param would be omitted from the params record, but the $N placeholder would still appear in the SQL, leading to incorrect query behavior.

Approach

Changed the filter condition from checking the serialized output to checking the original input value:

// Before: checked serialized output (broken for empty strings)
if (serialized !== ``) {
  acc[`${index + 1}`] = serialized
}

// After: checks original value (empty strings pass through)
if (param != null) {
  acc[`${index + 1}`] = serialized
}

Key Invariants

null and undefined params MUST be omitted (they indicate optional/unset values)
Empty strings MUST be included (they're valid query values)
The number of params in the record must match the number of $N placeholders in the SQL

Non-goals

Did not change how null/undefined values are handled in the WHERE clause generation itself (that's a separate concern)
Did not add support for explicit IS NULL queries (different feature)

Trade-offs

Alternative considered: Could have made serialize() return null for null/undefined and then filter on that. Rejected because it would change the serialize function's contract and add complexity for a simple fix.

Verification

pnpm vitest --run tests/sql-compiler.test.ts

The tests verify:

Single eq with empty string includes the param
Compound AND clause with empty string includes all params
Exact reproduction case from issue [Bug] Empty String & NULL/undefined values are silently omitted from query electric db collection query params #1147 (host_id = '')
Multiple empty strings get correct param indices

Files Changed

File	Change
`packages/electric-db-collection/src/sql-compiler.ts`	Changed param filtering to check original value instead of serialized output
`packages/electric-db-collection/tests/sql-compiler.test.ts`	Added 4 test cases for empty string equality queries

Fixes #1147

The sql-compiler was filtering out empty strings from query params, treating them the same as null/undefined values. This caused queries like `eq(column, '')` to incorrectly generate `WHERE column = NULL` instead of `WHERE column = ''`. The fix changes the filter condition to check the original value for null/undefined instead of checking if the serialized value is an empty string. This allows legitimate empty string queries to work correctly while still properly omitting null/undefined params.

changeset-bot · 2026-01-17T00:04:45Z

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 12fb152

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
@tanstack/electric-db-collection	Patch

Not sure what this means? Click here to learn what changesets are.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

pkg-pr-new · 2026-01-17T00:07:24Z

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commit: 12fb152

github-actions · 2026-01-17T00:08:02Z

Size Change: 0 B

Total Size: 90.5 kB

ℹ️ View Unchanged

Filename	Size
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_{compressed-size-action::db-package-size}

github-actions · 2026-01-17T00:08:38Z

Size Change: 0 B

Total Size: 3.47 kB

ℹ️ View Unchanged

Filename	Size
`./packages/react-db/dist/esm/index.js`	225 B
`./packages/react-db/dist/esm/useLiveInfiniteQuery.js`	1.17 kB
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`./packages/react-db/dist/esm/usePacedMutations.js`	401 B

_{compressed-size-action::react-db-package-size}

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

K-Mistele · 2026-01-17T00:14:35Z

related #1146

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

github-actions · 2026-01-17T04:20:38Z

🎉 This PR has been released!

@tanstack/[email protected]

Thank you for your contribution!

ci: apply automated fixes

742d180

Simplify null/undefined check to idiomatic pattern

dbacd53

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

KyleAMathews and others added 3 commits January 16, 2026 17:17

Add regression tests for issue #1147

9be1b42

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

Add like/ilike empty string tests for defense-in-depth

a425e52

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

Remove duplicate empty string test

f51987c

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

KyleAMathews added this to TanStack DB 1.0.0 release Jan 17, 2026

KyleAMathews moved this to Ready for review in TanStack DB 1.0.0 release Jan 17, 2026

Add changeset for empty string fix

12fb152

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <[email protected]>

thruflo approved these changes Jan 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

KyleAMathews merged commit 8d6442e into main Jan 17, 2026
7 checks passed

KyleAMathews deleted the claude/fix-tanstack-query-operator-HVvYv branch January 17, 2026 03:46

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Jan 17, 2026

ci: Version Packages #1148

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Summary

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Root Cause

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