MemPalace/mempalace · error · PalaceNotFoundError

{palace_path}

Error message

{palace_path}

What it means

`PalaceNotFoundError` whose message is the palace directory path, raised at the top of `SQLiteExactBackend.get_collection`. Before connecting, the backend checks the palace directory exists when `create=False`; a missing directory means the palace was never built at that path (or the path is wrong), so it fails fast with the offending path.

Source

Thrown at mempalace/backends/sqlite_exact.py:1086

                INSERT INTO meta(key, value)
                VALUES ('fts5_available', '0')
                ON CONFLICT(key) DO UPDATE SET value = excluded.value
                """
            )
        conn.commit()

    def get_collection(
        self,
        *args,
        **kwargs,
    ) -> SQLiteExactCollection:
        palace, collection_name, create, read_only = self._normalize_args(args, kwargs)
        self.require_namespace_support(palace)
        palace_path = palace.local_path
        if palace_path is None:
            raise PalaceNotFoundError("SQLiteExactBackend requires PalaceRef.local_path")
        if not create and not os.path.isdir(palace_path):
            raise PalaceNotFoundError(palace_path)
        handle = self._connect(palace_path, create=create, read_only=read_only)
        with handle.lock:
            row = handle.conn.execute(
                "SELECT id FROM collections WHERE name = ?",
                (collection_name,),
            ).fetchone()
            if row is None:
                if not create:
                    raise CollectionNotInitializedError(collection_name)
                from ..palace import mine_palace_lock

                with mine_palace_lock(palace_path):
                    handle.conn.execute(
                        "INSERT INTO collections(name, created_at) VALUES (?, ?)",
                        (collection_name, _utcnow()),
                    )
                    handle.conn.commit()
        return SQLiteExactCollection(handle, collection_name)

View on GitHub (pinned to 06cb6987f0)

Solutions

1. Confirm the directory exists: `os.path.isdir(palace.local_path)`; print the path you are actually passing.
2. Pass `create=True` when intentionally bootstrapping a new palace.
3. Resolve palace paths once from configuration into absolute paths; do not rely on cwd.
4. Catch PalaceNotFoundError to trigger onboarding/first-run setup.

Example fix

# before
col = backend.get_collection(palace, "drawers")  # dir missing, create=False

# after
if not Path(palace.local_path).is_dir():
    col = backend.get_collection(palace, "drawers", create=True)
else:
    col = backend.get_collection(palace, "drawers")

from pathlib import Path

def palace_dir_ready(palace_path) -> bool:
    return Path(palace_path).is_dir()

try:
    col = backend.get_collection(palace, name)
except PalaceNotFoundError as e:
    if not Path(palace.local_path).is_dir():
        col = backend.get_collection(palace, name, create=True)  # bootstrap
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: `backend.get_collection(palace, name)` (create defaults to False) where `palace.local_path` points at a non-existent directory; also raised earlier with a fixed message when `local_path` is None. Distinct from error 174: this checks the directory, before the db-file check in `_connect`.

Common situations: Fresh machine/clone without the palace data; palace path from env var or config not set; renamed or moved palace; create flag accidentally omitted when bootstrapping a new palace.

Related errors

• {db_path}
• {collection_name}
• {label} length {len(value)} does not match ids length {n}
• query requires exactly one of query_texts or query_embedding
• {marker_path}

AI-assisted analysis of MemPalace/mempalace@06cb6987f0 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/36bf3259043b0e01. Report an issue: GitHub.