Method: jobs.query

Runs a BigQuery SQL query synchronously and returns query results if the query completes within a specified timeout.

IAM Permissions

Requires the bigquery.jobs.create permission on the project resource.

Data-level permissions are highly dependent on the SQL statement being executed. While standard queries require data access (such as bigquery.tables.getData), complex operations like DDL or DCL may require permissions to manage reservations, IAM policies, or project settings.

HTTP request

POST https://bigquery.googleapis.com/bigquery/v2/projects/{projectId}/queries

The URL uses gRPC Transcoding syntax.

Path parameters

Parameters
projectId

string

Required. Project ID of the query request.

Request body

The request body contains an instance of QueryRequest.

Response body

If successful, the response body contains data with the following structure:

JSON representation 
{
  "kind": string,
  "schema": {
    object (TableSchema)
  },
  "jobReference": {
    object (JobReference)
  },
  "jobCreationReason": {
    object (JobCreationReason)
  },
  "queryId": string,
  "location": string,
  "totalRows": string,
  "pageToken": string,
  "rows": [
    {
      object
    }
  ],
  "totalBytesProcessed": string,
  "jobComplete": boolean,
  "errors": [
    {
      object (ErrorProto)
    }
  ],
  "cacheHit": boolean,
  "numDmlAffectedRows": string,
  "sessionInfo": {
    object (SessionInfo)
  },
  "dmlStats": {
    object (DmlStats)
  },
  "pageRowCount": string,
  "totalBytesBilled": string,
  "totalSlotMs": string,
  "creationTime": string,
  "startTime": string,
  "endTime": string,

  // The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the
  // fields will be set in a response:
  "arrowSchema": {
    object (ArrowSchema)
  }
  // End of mutually exclusive fields.

  // The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the
  // fields will be set in a response:
  "arrowRecordBatch": {
    object (ArrowRecordBatch)
  }
  // End of mutually exclusive fields.
}
Fields
kind

string

The resource type.
schema

object (TableSchema)

The schema of the results. Present only when the query completes successfully.
jobReference

object (JobReference)

Reference to the Job that was created to run the query. This field will be present even if the original request timed out, in which case jobs.getQueryResults can be used to read the results once the query has completed. Since this API only returns the first page of results, subsequent pages can be fetched via the same mechanism (jobs.getQueryResults).

If jobCreationMode was set to JOB_CREATION_OPTIONAL and the query completes without creating a job, this field will be empty.
jobCreationReason

object (JobCreationReason)

Optional. The reason why a Job was created.

Only relevant when a jobReference is present in the response. If jobReference is not present it will always be unset.
queryId

string

Auto-generated ID for the query.
location

string

Output only. The geographic location of the query.

For more information about BigQuery locations, see: https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/locations
totalRows

string (UInt64Value format)

The total number of rows in the complete query result set, which can be more than the number of rows in this single page of results.
pageToken

string

A token used for paging results. A non-empty token indicates that additional results are available. To see additional results, query the jobs.getQueryResults method. For more information, see Paging through table data.
rows[]

object (Struct format)

An object with as many results as can be contained within the maximum permitted reply size. To get any additional rows, you can call jobs.getQueryResults and specify the jobReference returned above.
totalBytesProcessed

string (Int64Value format)

The total number of bytes processed for this query. If this query was a dry run, this is the number of bytes that would be processed if the query were run.
jobComplete

boolean

Whether the query has completed or not. If rows or totalRows are present, this will always be true. If this is false, totalRows will not be available.
errors[]

object (ErrorProto)

Output only. The first errors or warnings encountered during the running of the job. The final message includes the number of errors that caused the process to stop. Errors here do not necessarily mean that the job has completed or was unsuccessful. For more information about error messages, see Error messages.
cacheHit

boolean

Whether the query result was fetched from the query cache.
numDmlAffectedRows

string (Int64Value format)

Output only. The number of rows affected by a DML statement. Present only for DML statements INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE.
sessionInfo

object (SessionInfo)

Output only. Information of the session if this job is part of one.
dmlStats

object (DmlStats)

Output only. Detailed statistics for DML statements INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE or TRUNCATE.
pageRowCount

string (int64 format)

Output only. The number of rows out of totalRows returned in this response.

Preview
totalBytesBilled

string (int64 format)

Output only. If the project is configured to use on-demand pricing, then this field contains the total bytes billed for the job. If the project is configured to use flat-rate pricing, then you are not billed for bytes and this field is informational only.
totalSlotMs

string (int64 format)

Output only. Number of slot ms the user is actually billed for.
creationTime

string (int64 format)

Output only. Creation time of this query, in milliseconds since the epoch. This field will be present on all queries.
startTime

string (int64 format)

Output only. Start time of this query, in milliseconds since the epoch. This field will be present when the query job transitions from the PENDING state to either RUNNING or DONE.
endTime

string (int64 format)

Output only. End time of this query, in milliseconds since the epoch. This field will be present whenever a query job is in the DONE state.

The schema if query_results_format has been specified with value other than default STRUCT_ENCODING.

Preview The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the fields will be set in a response:
arrowSchema

object (ArrowSchema)

Output only. Arrow schema
End of mutually exclusive fields.

Row data is returned in format when query_results_format has been specified with value other than default STRUCT_ENCODING.

Preview The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the fields will be set in a response:
arrowRecordBatch

object (ArrowRecordBatch)

Output only. Serialized row data in Arrow RecordBatch format.
End of mutually exclusive fields.

Authorization scopes

Requires one of the following OAuth scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/bigquery.readonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform.read-only

For more information, see the Authentication Overview.

QueryRequest

Describes the format of the jobs.query request.

JSON representation 
{
  "kind": string,
  "query": string,
  "maxResults": integer,
  "defaultDataset": {
    object (DatasetReference)
  },
  "timeoutMs": integer,
  "destinationEncryptionConfiguration": {
    object (EncryptionConfiguration)
  },
  "dryRun": boolean,
  "preserveNulls": boolean,
  "useQueryCache": boolean,
  "useLegacySql": boolean,
  "parameterMode": string,
  "queryParameters": [
    {
      object (QueryParameter)
    }
  ],
  "location": string,
  "formatOptions": {
    object (DataFormatOptions)
  },
  "connectionProperties": [
    {
      object (ConnectionProperty)
    }
  ],
  "labels": {
    string: string,
    ...
  },
  "maximumBytesBilled": string,
  "requestId": string,
  "createSession": boolean,
  "jobCreationMode": enum (JobCreationMode),
  "queryResultsFormat": enum (QueryResultsFormat),
  "secureContext": {
    object (SecureContext)
  },
  "jobTimeoutMs": string,
  "reservation": string,

  // The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the
  // fields will be set in a response:
  "arrowSerializationOptions": {
    object (ArrowSerializationOptions)
  }
  // End of mutually exclusive fields.
}
Fields
kind

string

The resource type of the request.
query

string

Required. A query string to execute, using Google Standard SQL or legacy SQL syntax. Example: "SELECT COUNT(f1) FROM myProjectId.myDatasetId.myTableId".
maxResults

integer

Optional. The maximum number of rows of data to return per page of results. Setting this flag to a small value such as 1000 and then paging through results might improve reliability when the query result set is large. In addition to this limit, responses are also limited to 10 MB. By default, there is no maximum row count, and only the byte limit applies.
defaultDataset

object (DatasetReference)

Optional. Specifies the default datasetId and projectId to assume for any unqualified table names in the query. If not set, all table names in the query string must be qualified in the format 'datasetId.tableId'.
timeoutMs

integer

Optional. Optional: Specifies the maximum amount of time, in milliseconds, that the client is willing to wait for the query to complete. By default, this limit is 10 seconds (10,000 milliseconds). If the query is complete, the jobComplete field in the response is true. If the query has not yet completed, jobComplete is false.

You can request a longer timeout period in the timeoutMs field. However, the call is not guaranteed to wait for the specified timeout; it typically returns after around 200 seconds (200,000 milliseconds), even if the query is not complete.

If jobComplete is false, you can continue to wait for the query to complete by calling the getQueryResults method until the jobComplete field in the getQueryResults response is true.
destinationEncryptionConfiguration

object (EncryptionConfiguration)

Optional. Custom encryption configuration (e.g., Cloud KMS keys)
dryRun

boolean

Optional. If set to true, BigQuery doesn't run the job. Instead, if the query is valid, BigQuery returns statistics about the job such as how many bytes would be processed. If the query is invalid, an error returns. The default value is false.
preserveNulls
(deprecated)

boolean

This property is deprecated.
useQueryCache

boolean

Optional. Whether to look for the result in the query cache. The query cache is a best-effort cache that will be flushed whenever tables in the query are modified. The default value is true.
useLegacySql

boolean

Specifies whether to use BigQuery's legacy SQL dialect for this query. The default value is true. If set to false, the query uses BigQuery's GoogleSQL. When useLegacySql is set to false, the value of flattenResults is ignored; query will be run as if flattenResults is false.
parameterMode

string

GoogleSQL only. Set to POSITIONAL to use positional (?) query parameters or to NAMED to use named (@myparam) query parameters in this query.
queryParameters[]

object (QueryParameter)

jobs.query parameters for GoogleSQL queries.
location

string

The geographic location where the job should run. For more information, see how to specify locations.
formatOptions

object (DataFormatOptions)

Optional. Output format adjustments.
connectionProperties[]

object (ConnectionProperty)

Optional. Connection properties which can modify the query behavior.
labels

map (key: string, value: string)

Optional. The labels associated with this query. Labels can be used to organize and group query jobs. Label keys and values can be no longer than 63 characters, can only contain lowercase letters, numeric characters, underscores and dashes. International characters are allowed. Label keys must start with a letter and each label in the list must have a different key.
maximumBytesBilled

string (Int64Value format)

Optional. Limits the bytes billed for this query. Queries with bytes billed above this limit will fail (without incurring a charge). If unspecified, the project default is used.
requestId

string

Optional. A unique user provided identifier to ensure idempotent behavior for queries. Note that this is different from the jobId. It has the following properties:

  1. It is case-sensitive, limited to up to 36 ASCII characters. A UUID is recommended.

  2. Read only queries can ignore this token since they are nullipotent by definition.

  3. For the purposes of idempotency ensured by the requestId, a request is considered duplicate of another only if they have the same requestId and are actually duplicates. When determining whether a request is a duplicate of another request, all parameters in the request that may affect the result are considered. For example, query, connectionProperties, queryParameters, useLegacySql are parameters that affect the result and are considered when determining whether a request is a duplicate, but properties like timeoutMs don't affect the result and are thus not considered. Dry run query requests are never considered duplicate of another request.

  4. When a duplicate mutating query request is detected, it returns: a. the results of the mutation if it completes successfully within the timeout. b. the running operation if it is still in progress at the end of the timeout.

  5. Its lifetime is limited to 15 minutes. In other words, if two requests are sent with the same requestId, but more than 15 minutes apart, idempotency is not guaranteed.
createSession

boolean

Optional. If true, creates a new session using a randomly generated sessionId. If false, runs query with an existing sessionId passed in ConnectionProperty, otherwise runs query in non-session mode.

The session location will be set to QueryRequest.location if it is present, otherwise it's set to the default location based on existing routing logic.
jobCreationMode

enum (JobCreationMode)

Optional. If not set, jobs are always required.

If set, the query request will follow the behavior described JobCreationMode.
queryResultsFormat

enum (QueryResultsFormat)

Optional. The query results format. If the value is anything other than STRUCT_ENCODING or unspecified:

  • The schema of the results is provided in the QueryResponse.results_schema field.
  • The results of the first page are provided in the QueryResponse.results field.
  • The QueryResponse.rows is not populated.
  • The QueryResponse.schema for QueryResponse.rows is not populated since it is the schema of the QueryResponse.rows.

Preview
secureContext

object (SecureContext)

Optional. A set of key-value pairs representing the secure context. This can be used to pass sensitive or context-specific information. They can be retrieved via the SECURE_CONTEXT() function and used to modify the run-time behavior of a query.
jobTimeoutMs

string (int64 format)

Optional. Job timeout in milliseconds. If this time limit is exceeded, BigQuery will attempt to stop a longer job, but may not always succeed in canceling it before the job completes. For example, a job that takes more than 60 seconds to complete has a better chance of being stopped than a job that takes 10 seconds to complete. This timeout applies to the query even if a job does not need to be created.
reservation

string

Optional. The reservation that jobs.query request would use. User can specify a reservation to execute the job.query. The expected format is projects/{project}/locations/{location}/reservations/{reservation}. Forces the query to use on-demand billing when set to none. This requires the project or organization to have reservation_override_mode set to ALLOW_ANY_OVERRIDE.

Results serialization options for query_results_format other than STRUCT_ENCODING.

Preview The following is a list of mutually exclusive fields. At most one of the fields will be set in a response:
arrowSerializationOptions

object (ArrowSerializationOptions)

Optional. Options specific to the Apache Arrow output format.
End of mutually exclusive fields.

JobCreationMode

Job Creation Mode provides different options on job creation.

Enums
JOB_CREATION_MODE_UNSPECIFIED If unspecified JOB_CREATION_REQUIRED is the default.
JOB_CREATION_REQUIRED Default. Job creation is always required.
JOB_CREATION_OPTIONAL Job creation is optional. Returning immediate results is prioritized. BigQuery will automatically determine if a Job needs to be created. The conditions under which BigQuery can decide to not create a Job are subject to change. If Job creation is required, JOB_CREATION_REQUIRED mode should be used, which is the default.

QueryResultsFormat

The format of the query results.

Preview

Enums
QUERY_RESULTS_FORMAT_UNSPECIFIED If unspecified it will default to struct QueryResponse.rows (STRUCT_ENCODING)
STRUCT_ENCODING Default encoding of results as struct in QueryResponse.rows
ARROW Arrow is a standard open source column-based message format. See the Apache Arrow documentation for more details.

ArrowSerializationOptions

Contains options specific to Arrow Serialization.

Preview

JSON representation 
{
  "bufferCompression": enum (CompressionCodec),
  "picosTimestampPrecision": enum (PicosTimestampPrecision)
}
Fields
bufferCompression

enum (CompressionCodec)

The compression codec to use for Arrow buffers in serialized record batches.
picosTimestampPrecision

enum (PicosTimestampPrecision)

Optional. Set timestamp precision option. If not set, the default precision is microseconds.

CompressionCodec

Compression codec's supported by Arrow.

Enums
COMPRESSION_UNSPECIFIED If unspecified no compression will be used.
LZ4_FRAME LZ4 Frame
ZSTD Zstandard compression.

PicosTimestampPrecision

The precision of the timestamp value in the Avro message. This precision is only applied to the column(s) with the TIMESTAMP_PICOS type.

Enums
PICOS_TIMESTAMP_PRECISION_UNSPECIFIED Unspecified timestamp precision. The default precision is microseconds.
TIMESTAMP_PRECISION_MICROS Timestamp values returned in the results will be truncated to microsecond level precision. The value will be encoded as Arrow TIMESTAMP type in a 64 bit integer.
TIMESTAMP_PRECISION_NANOS Timestamp values returned in the results will be truncated to nanosecond level precision. The value will be encoded as Arrow TIMESTAMP type in a 64 bit integer.
TIMESTAMP_PRECISION_PICOS Timestamp values returned in the results will contain full precision picosecond value. The value will be encoded as a string which conforms to ISO 8601 format.

ArrowSchema

Arrow schema as specified in https://arrow.apache.org/docs/python/api/datatypes.html and serialized to bytes using IPC: https://arrow.apache.org/docs/format/Columnar.html#serialization-and-interprocess-communication-ipc

See code samples on how this message can be deserialized.

Preview

JSON representation 
{
  "serializedSchema": string
}
Fields
serializedSchema

string (bytes format)

IPC serialized Arrow schema.

A base64-encoded string.

ArrowRecordBatch

Arrow RecordBatch.

Preview

JSON representation 
{
  "serializedRecordBatch": string
}
Fields
serializedRecordBatch

string (bytes format)

IPC-serialized Arrow RecordBatch.

A base64-encoded string.