What causes "channel ${envelope.channel} does not exist" in Hmbown/CodeWhale?

Create the channel row: use the emit-sql subcommand output or insert into facts_channel (scope='global', slug=' ')

Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

channel does not exist

Error message

channel ${envelope.channel} does not exist

What it means

Before inserting the release row, publish queries facts_channel filtered to scope=eq.global and slug=eq.<channel>. If the query returns an empty array, the channel does not exist in the database and publication aborts with this error. Channels must be created (via the emit-sql SQL or manually in Supabase) before publishing releases against them.

Solutions

Create the channel row: use the emit-sql subcommand output or insert into facts_channel (scope='global', slug='<channel>')
Check the DB: select id,slug,scope from facts_channel; confirm slug and scope='global' match envelope.channel
Run with --dry-run to print the channel being published and compare to the DB
Verify SUPABASE_URL points at the project that actually contains the channel

Example fix

-- before publish
-- after: create the channel first
insert into facts_channel (slug, scope) values ('beta', 'global');

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const channels = await postgrest(`facts_channel?scope=eq.global&slug=eq.${encodeURIComponent(channel)}&select=id`);
if (!channels?.length) throw new Error(`channel ${channel} missing; create it before publishing`);

Try / catch

try {
  await run(['publish', envelopePath]);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes('does not exist')) {
    console.error(`Create the channel first: insert into facts_channel (slug, scope) values ('${envelope.channel}', 'global');`);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Provision channels (via emit-sql) before first publish
Verify slug and scope='global' match the envelope exactly
Confirm SUPABASE_URL targets the project containing the channel
Use --dry-run to echo the channel being published

When it happens

Trigger: Publishing an envelope whose channel slug has no matching global facts_channel row; --dry-run passing (no DB check) then real publish failing; a new channel like "beta" that was never provisioned; slug case/typo mismatch between envelope.channel and the DB row.

Common situations: First publication to a brand-new channel; rotated/renamed channels where the DB still has the old slug; publishing against the wrong Supabase project (env var pointing elsewhere); a channel created with non-global scope so the scope=eq.global filter misses it.

Understand the failure class

Background: Record Not Found Errors: "not found", RecordNotFound, and "was not found" — what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3b39ceb624a907f2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at web/scripts/facts-publish.mjs:595

      schema_version: envelope.schema_version,
      envelope_version: envelope.envelope,
      applies_to: envelope.applies_to,
      key_id: envelope.key_id,
      payload_b64: envelope.payload_b64,
      sig_b64: envelope.sig_b64,
      sigs: envelope.sigs ?? [],
      payload: check.payload,
      published_at: envelope.published_at,
      not_after: check.payload.not_after ?? null,
      published_by: String(flags["published-by"] ?? ""),
      notes: String(flags.notes ?? ""),
    };
    if (flags["dry-run"]) {
      console.log(JSON.stringify({ dry_run: true, channel: envelope.channel, facts_key: { key_id: envelope.key_id, public_key: pub }, facts_release: { ...row, payload_b64: `<${envelope.payload_b64.length} chars>` } }, null, 2));
      return 0;
    }
    const channels = await postgrest(`facts_channel?scope=eq.global&slug=eq.${encodeURIComponent(envelope.channel)}&select=id`);
    if (!channels?.length) throw new Error(`channel ${envelope.channel} does not exist`);
    await postgrest("facts_key", { method: "POST", body: { key_id: envelope.key_id, scope: "global", algorithm: "ed25519", public_key: pub, status: "active" }, prefer: "resolution=ignore-duplicates,return=minimal" });
    const inserted = await postgrest("facts_release", { method: "POST", body: { ...row, channel_id: channels[0].id }, prefer: "return=representation" });
    console.log(JSON.stringify({ published: true, channel: envelope.channel, facts_version: envelope.facts_version, release_id: inserted?.[0]?.id ?? null, payload_sha256: inserted?.[0]?.payload_sha256 ?? null }, null, 2));
    return 0;
  }
  if (cmd === "revoke") {
    const channel = String(flags.channel ?? "");
    const version = Number(flags.version);
    const reason = String(flags.reason ?? "");
    if (!CHANNEL_RE.test(channel) || !Number.isSafeInteger(version) || version <= 0 || !reason) throw new Error("--channel, --version and --reason are required");
    if (flags["dry-run"]) {
      console.log(JSON.stringify({ dry_run: true, channel, facts_version: version, status: "revoked", revoke_reason: reason }, null, 2));
      return 0;
    }
    const channels = await postgrest(`facts_channel?scope=eq.global&slug=eq.${encodeURIComponent(channel)}&select=id`);
    if (!channels?.length) throw new Error(`channel ${channel} does not exist`);
    const updated = await postgrest(`facts_release?channel_id=eq.${channels[0].id}&facts_version=eq.${version}`, {
      method: "PATCH",

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