The Five Stages of Debugging a Couchbase N1QL Query
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and SELECT RAW.
It starts innocently. You write a query. It looks perfect. You run it. Couchbase stares back at you with a 3000 error and a message that reads like a fortune cookie written by a compiler.
Stage 1: Denial. "This query is fine. It works in my head. The database is wrong." You run it again. Same error. You run it a third time, slower, as if the database needs time to think.
Stage 2: Anger. "WHY does N1QL need backticks around EVERYTHING? Why is 'path' a reserved word? WHO uses 'path' as a reserved word?" You slam your laptop shut. You open it again because you forgot to save.
Stage 3: Bargaining. "OK Couchbase, if you just run this one query, I promise I'll read the documentation. All of it. Even the parts about FTS." You add a semicolon. You remove the semicolon. You add it back.
Stage 4: Depression. You open Stack Overflow. The only answer is from 2019 and says "use a different database." You consider it briefly. You close the tab.
Stage 5: SELECT RAW. You add SELECT RAW to your subquery. Everything works. The sun comes out. Birds sing. You have no idea why it works, but you commit immediately before the universe changes its mind.