codeql database analyze error question

[marcrepo]

Description of the issue
The following codeql database analyze statement generates a "No query kind specified(NO_KIND_SPECIFIED)" fatal error

The statement is:
codeql database analyze name1_db /home/m/vscode-codeql-starter/codeql-custom-queries-cpp/ --output=t1 --format=sarif-latest

All the queries are processed without error by codeql.

Then the following output appears on the console:
Shutting down query evaluator.
Interpreting results.
A fatal error occurred: Could not process query metadata.
Error was: No query kind specified(NO_KIND_SPECIFIED).

I can't find this error anywhere on the semmle help website so I'm not sure how
to proceed. The error occurs regardless of the output type I request (sarif, csv, etc). I also tried updating the database - but codeql states no update is needed.

[max-schaefer]

Does your query have a @kind as described here?

Assuming it is an alert query, the metadata comment at the top of the file should look like this:

/**
 * @kind problem
 * @id your-query-id
 */

Additionally, you may want to include a @name and @description, though these are optional.

[marcrepo]

Thank you for your help - it is very much appreciated. I wasn't aware the metadata was required as the queries seem to run with the codeql query run command.

What is the difference between the two commands (codeql database analyze and codeql query run)?

Thanks again.

[max-schaefer]

I'm going to let someone from the CodeQL CLI team explain this. @lcartey perhaps?

[jf205]

Hi @marcrepo. I work on the CodeQL documentation. It looks like we need to make the query metadata requirements a bit clearer, so thanks for this feedback.

What is the difference between the two commands (codeql database analyze and codeql query run)?

As I understand it:

• database analyze produces interpreted results, and the metadata tells CodeQL how the results should be related to the source code. Recommended for most use cases.

• query run displays your results in the terminal (or saves them in a less helpful binary format) rather than interpreting them relative to the source code, so there are no metadata requirements. This might be useful for glancing at results while developing a query using the CLI. However, CodeQL for VS Code offers a much better experience for developing your own queries.

[marcrepo]

Hi @jf205,

Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it.