INSERT INTO with SubQuery MySQL

I was disappointed at the "all or nothing" answers. I needed (again) to INSERT some data and SELECT an id from an existing table.

INSERT INTO table1 (id_table2, name) VALUES ((SELECT id FROM table2 LIMIT 1), 'Example');

The sub-select on an INSERT query should use parenthesis in addition to the comma as deliminators.

For those having trouble with using a SELECT within an INSERT I recommend testing your SELECT independently first and ensuring that the correct number of columns match for both queries.


You can just simply e.g.

INSERT INTO modulesToSections (fk_moduleId, fk_sectionId, `order`) VALUES
    ((SELECT id FROM modules WHERE title="Top bar"),0,-100);

Use numeric literals with aliases inside a SELECT statement. No () are necessary around the SELECT component.

INSERT INTO qa_costpriceslog (item_code, invoice_code, item_costprice)
  SELECT
    /* Literal number values with column aliases */
    1 AS item_code,
    2 AS invoice_code,
    item_costprice
  FROM qa_items 
  WHERE item_code = 1;

Note that in context of an INSERT INTO...SELECT, the aliases are not actually necessary and you can just SELECT 1, 2, item_costprice, but in a normal SELECT you'll need the aliases to access the columns returned.