failed to enable WAL for {}: SQLite retained journal mode {c

Error message

failed to enable WAL for {}: SQLite retained journal mode {configured_mode}

What it means

Error "failed to enable WAL for {}: SQLite retained journal mode {configured_mode}" thrown in Hmbown/CodeWhale.

Source

Thrown at crates/state/src/lib.rs:337

        conn.busy_timeout(std::time::Duration::from_secs(5))
            .with_context(|| format!("failed to set busy_timeout for {}", db_path.display()))?;
        conn.pragma_update(None, "foreign_keys", "ON")
            .with_context(|| format!("failed to enable foreign keys for {}", db_path.display()))?;

        // WAL persists in the database header, so established stores need no
        // write-like journal transition on every process start. Fresh or
        // explicitly downgraded stores still transition once, and we verify
        // SQLite accepted the requested mode instead of silently retaining the
        // previous one (for example on an unsupported VFS).
        let journal_mode: String = conn
            .pragma_query_value(None, "journal_mode", |row| row.get(0))
            .with_context(|| format!("failed to read journal mode for {}", db_path.display()))?;
        if !journal_mode.eq_ignore_ascii_case("wal") {
            let configured_mode: String = conn
                .pragma_update_and_check(None, "journal_mode", "WAL", |row| row.get(0))
                .with_context(|| format!("failed to enable WAL for {}", db_path.display()))?;
            if !configured_mode.eq_ignore_ascii_case("wal") {
                anyhow::bail!(
                    "failed to enable WAL for {}: SQLite retained journal mode {configured_mode}",
                    db_path.display()
                );
            }
        }
        Ok(())
    }

    /// Returns the filesystem path of the underlying SQLite database.
    pub fn db_path(&self) -> &Path {
        &self.db_path
    }

    fn conn(&self) -> Result<MutexGuard<'_, Connection>> {
        // Poisoning means a panic mid-operation; any open transaction was
        // rolled back when it dropped, but surface the condition rather than
        // silently continuing on a connection whose state we can't vouch for.
        self.conn

View on GitHub (pinned to 8880682c63)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/state/src/lib.rs:337 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@8880682c63 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/25bd048866555b51. Report an issue: GitHub.