ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax

What it means

MySQL and MariaDB couldn’t parse the statement, so nothing ran. The useful part is at the end:

… for the right syntax to use near 'FROM customers' at line 1

• near '…' quotes your statement from the first piece the parser couldn’t use, to the end (cut short if long). The mistake is usually right before that text: in SELECT id, name email, FROM customers the parser stops at FROM, but the problem is the comma before it.
• near '' (nothing in the quotes) means the statement ended while the parser still expected more: a dangling WHERE, ORDER BY or OFFSET, or a body cut off at a semicolon.
• at line N counts lines from the start of the statement, not of your file.

MariaDB prints the same message with “MariaDB server version” in place of “MySQL server version”.

Common causes

1. A reserved word used as a name: order, group, key, rank. MySQL 8 added window-function words such as RANK, LEAD and LAG to the reserved list, so old schemas can break on upgrade.
2. A stray or missing comma, or a trailing comma before ) or FROM.
3. An unescaped quote inside a string: 'O'Brien' ends the string at O.
4. SQL from another database: PostgreSQL’s ::text, ILIKE or "double-quoted" names, SQL Server’s TOP 5.
5. An unfinished statement: WHERE, ORDER BY or LIMIT 10 OFFSET with nothing after them.
6. A stored procedure or trigger without DELIMITER. The mysql client splits on ;, so it sends the body in pieces.
7. A newer feature on an older server, or a MariaDB-only one on MySQL (or the other way round): INSERT … RETURNING works on MariaDB but not MySQL.

How to fix it

Quote names with backticks

CREATE TABLE `order` (id int PRIMARY KEY);
SELECT `rank` FROM players;

Better still, rename columns that collide with keywords. The keyword list marks reserved words with (R).

Escape quotes inside strings

Double the quote, or use a parameter from your driver instead of building SQL by hand:

UPDATE customers SET name = 'O''Brien' WHERE id = 1;

Translate syntax from other databases

Set a delimiter for procedures and triggers

DELIMITER //
CREATE PROCEDURE seo_p()
BEGIN
  SELECT 1;
  SELECT 2;
END//
DELIMITER ;

DELIMITER is a command of the mysql client, not SQL. GUI clients and drivers that send the whole statement at once don’t need it.

Look at the text before “near”

Format the statement one clause per line and run it again: at line N then points at the clause, and the quoted text shows where in it the parser stopped.

Reproduce it

On MySQL 8.4.11:

CREATE TABLE order (id int PRIMARY KEY);
SELECT id, name email, FROM customers;
SELECT rank FROM customers;
SELECT id::text FROM customers;
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE name ILIKE 'a%';
SELECT TOP 5 * FROM customers;
CREATE TABLE seo_t (id int, name varchar(20),);

ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'order (id int PRIMARY KEY)' at line 1
… near 'FROM customers' at line 1
… near 'FROM customers' at line 1
… near '::text FROM customers' at line 1
… near 'ILIKE 'a%'' at line 1
… near '5 * FROM customers' at line 1
… near ')' at line 1

An unfinished statement over six lines, ending in ORDER BY;:

ERROR 1064 (42000): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 6

'O'Brien' swallowed the rest of the script into one broken statement:

… near 'Brien' WHERE id = 1;
SELECT id FROM customers LIMIT 10 OFFSET;
CREATE TABLE `ord' at line 1

A procedure body sent without DELIMITER failed twice, once for each piece:

… near '' at line 3
… near 'END' at line 1

MariaDB 11.4.13 gave the same results except two: SELECT rank FROM customers failed with Unknown column 'rank' (error 1054) because RANK isn’t reserved there, and INSERT … RETURNING id ran and returned the new id.

In Inlet

Inlet shows a syntax error at the position the server reports, so the editor marks where the parser stopped, and adds a hint for common mistakes. The formatter puts one clause per line, and with your own Anthropic API key Ask Claude (⌘L) can fix the failed statement.