What causes "Error inserting: table "${table}" does not exist" in actualbudget/actual?

Correct the table name to a valid schema table ('transactions', 'accounts', etc.).

Error inserting: table "${table}" does not exist

Error message

Error inserting: table "${table}" does not exist

What it means

convertForInsert verifies the target table exists in the schema before iterating its fields to apply defaults. An unknown table during insert throws 'Error inserting: table "X" does not exist' — the insert-specific variant of the conform table check.

Source

Thrown at packages/loot-core/src/server/aql/schema-helpers.ts:156

        }

        // This option removes null values (see `convertForInsert`)
        if (skipNull && obj[field] == null) {
          return null;
        }

        return [fieldRef(field), convertInputType(obj[field], fieldDesc.type)];
      })
      .filter(Boolean),
  );
}

export function convertForInsert(schema, schemaConfig, table, rawObj) {
  const obj = { ...rawObj };

  const tableSchema = schema[table];
  if (tableSchema == null) {
    throw new Error(`Error inserting: table "${table}" does not exist`);
  }

  // Inserting checks all the fields in the table and adds any default
  // values necessary
  Object.keys(tableSchema).forEach(field => {
    const fieldDesc = tableSchema[field];

    if (obj[field] == null) {
      if (fieldDesc.default !== undefined) {
        obj[field] =
          typeof fieldDesc.default === 'function'
            ? fieldDesc.default()
            : fieldDesc.default;
      } else if (isRequired(field, fieldDesc)) {
        // Although this check is also done in `conform`, it only
        // checks the fields in `obj`. For insert, we need to do it
        // here to check that all required fields in the table exist
        throw new Error(

View on GitHub (pinned to d4334cb6e6)

Solutions

Correct the table name to a valid schema table ('transactions', 'accounts', etc.).
Grep the aql schema file for the exact registered table names.
If the table is new, add its schema definition before inserting.
Ensure the `schema` object passed into convertForInsert is the current full schema map, not a partial/stale copy.

Example fix

// before
insertWithSchema('account', obj, {}); // wrong table
// after
insertWithSchema('accounts', obj, {});

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const VALID_INSERT_TABLES = new Set(Object.keys(schema));
function safeInsert(table, obj) {
  if (!VALID_INSERT_TABLES.has(table)) throw new Error(`Unknown insert table: ${table}`);
  return insertWithSchema(table, obj, {});
}

Try / catch

try {
  return insertWithSchema(table, obj, {});
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes('Error inserting: table')) {
    logger.error('Insert against unknown table', { table });
    return null;
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Keep table names in a single constants module
Run integration tests for insert paths after schema upgrades
Avoid hand-writing table names in plugin/sync code

When it happens

Trigger: Calling convertForInsert (directly or via insertWithSchema / toDb inside a transactor) with a table name that is misspelled, unregistered, or removed in the current schema version.

Common situations: Plugins/custom sync code written against old internal table names, copy-pasted insert code with a wrong table constant, and migrations that dropped or renamed a table without updating insert call sites.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of actualbudget/actual@d4334cb6e6 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b35a16bf451990b1. Report an issue: GitHub.