Metabase GUI filter on varchar with true/false errors: operator does not exist

TL;DR

Affected versions are v1.63.11 through v1.63.13 (working in v1.63.10), so pin to a fixed patch instead of working around it long term. This is a known regression (introduced by PR #80003) fixed and backported across the 58.x to 64.x release lines, so upgrading Metabase is the real fix.

Steps

1. This is a known regression (introduced by PR #80003) fixed and backported across the 58.x to 64.x release lines, so upgrading Metabase is the real fix. If you are pinned to an affected version, run the filter as native SQL, or if you must use the GUI builder, the breakage is in the builder's type coercion of boolean-like strings against text columns. Affected versions are v1.63.11 through v1.63.13 (working in v1.63.10), so pin to a fixed patch instead of working around it long term.

When to use

You are seeing this: The SQL preview showed = 'true' and running the same query as native SQL worked; only the GUI query builder hit the error. Use this skill when you run into "Metabase GUI filter on varchar with true/false errors: operator does not exist".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: are v1.63.11, through v1.63.13, v1.63.10. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Source: GitHub issue metabase/metabase#80004 (closed, 6 comments): between v1.63.11 and v1.63.13 Metabase regressed so that filtering a character varying column by a boolean-like string value generated a typed boolean comparison, producing ERROR: operator does not exist: character varying = boolean on Redshift (and Postgres). The SQL preview showed = 'true' and running the same query as native SQL worked; only the GUI query builder hit the error.

Verified resolution: This is a known regression (introduced by PR #80003) fixed and backported across the 58.x to 64.x release lines, so upgrading Metabase is the real fix. If you are pinned to an affected version, run the filter as native SQL, or if you must use the GUI builder, the breakage is in the builder's type coercion of boolean-like strings against text columns. Affected versions are v1.63.11 through v1.63.13 (working in v1.63.10), so pin to a fixed patch instead of working around it long term.

Source URL: https://github.com/metabase/metabase/issues/80004