What causes "System prompt variable not found" in Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm?

List current variables to obtain valid ids before updating

System prompt variable not found

Error message

System prompt variable not found

What it means

SystemPromptVariables.update(id, { key, value }) first does findFirst on system_prompt_variables by id; when no row matches it throws 'System prompt variable not found'. Note that update() silently returns null earlier when id, key, or value are falsy - so seeing this error means those were provided but the id has no database row.

Solutions

List current variables to obtain valid ids before updating
Ensure the id param parses to a real integer (Number(id) is not NaN)
Treat this as a 404 in callers and refresh the variable list in the UI
If the variable was deleted intentionally, create it again instead of updating

Example fix

// before
const updated = await SystemPromptVariables.update(id, { key, value });

// after
const existing = await SystemPromptVariables.get(id);
if (!existing) throw new Error(`No system prompt variable ${id}`);
const updated = await SystemPromptVariables.update(existing.id, { key, value });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const { SystemPromptVariables } = require('../models/systemPromptVariables');

const existing = Number.isInteger(Number(id))
  ? await SystemPromptVariables.get(Number(id))
  : null;
if (!existing) {
  return res.status(404).json({ error: 'System prompt variable not found' });
}
await SystemPromptVariables.update(existing.id, { key, value });

Try / catch

try {
  await SystemPromptVariables.update(id, { key, value });
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message === 'System prompt variable not found') {
    // refresh the list the UI shows and return 404
  } else throw err;
}

Prevention

Fetch the variable by id before attempting an update; treat missing ids as 404s
Re-fetch the variable list when the edit view opens so concurrent deletes surface early
Never pass malformed ids; validate Number(id) is an integer first

When it happens

Trigger: Updating a variable that was deleted in another session or by another admin; a numeric-looking string that Number() turns into NaN; an id copied from a different environment or database.

Common situations: Admin UI holding a stale variable list while another admin deletes entries; scripts replaying recorded ids against a fresh instance; id passed as an object or malformed string.

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 Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@3aec848f28 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/be2b0f303a24242a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at server/models/systemPromptVariables.js:203

        description: description ? String(description) : null,
        type: type ? String(type) : "static",
        userId: userId ? Number(userId) : null,
      },
    });
  },

  /**
   * Updates a system prompt variable by its unique database ID
   * @param {number} id
   * @param {{ key: string, value: string, description: string }} data
   * @returns {Promise<SystemPromptVariable>}
   */
  update: async function (id, { key, value, description = null }) {
    if (!id || !key || !value) return null;
    const existingRecord = await prisma.system_prompt_variables.findFirst({
      where: { id: Number(id) },
    });
    if (!existingRecord) throw new Error("System prompt variable not found");
    await this._checkVariableKey(key, false);

    return await prisma.system_prompt_variables.update({
      where: { id: existingRecord.id },
      data: {
        key: String(key),
        value: String(value),
        description: description ? String(description) : null,
      },
    });
  },

  /**
   * Deletes a system prompt variable by its unique database ID
   * @param {number} id
   * @returns {Promise<boolean>}
   */
  delete: async function (id = null) {

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