apache/answer · error

get questions failed: %w

Error message

get questions failed: %w

What it means

Returned by updateQuestionPostTime in internal/migrations/v12.go when the bulk xorm Find() that loads all questions fails. The migration needs every question row to backfill post_update_time, so a read failure aborts the whole migration. The driver error is wrapped with %w.

Source

Thrown at internal/migrations/v12.go:64

	VoteCount        int       `xorm:"not null default 0 INT(11) vote_count"`
	AnswerCount      int       `xorm:"not null default 0 INT(11) answer_count"`
	CollectionCount  int       `xorm:"not null default 0 INT(11) collection_count"`
	FollowCount      int       `xorm:"not null default 0 INT(11) follow_count"`
	AcceptedAnswerID string    `xorm:"not null default 0 BIGINT(20) accepted_answer_id"`
	LastAnswerID     string    `xorm:"not null default 0 BIGINT(20) last_answer_id"`
	PostUpdateTime   time.Time `xorm:"post_update_time TIMESTAMP"`
	RevisionID       string    `xorm:"not null default 0 BIGINT(20) revision_id"`
}

func (QuestionPostTime) TableName() string {
	return "question"
}

func updateQuestionPostTime(ctx context.Context, x *xorm.Engine) error {
	questionList := make([]QuestionPostTime, 0)
	err := x.Context(ctx).Find(&questionList, &entity.Question{})
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("get questions failed: %w", err)
	}
	for _, item := range questionList {
		if item.PostUpdateTime.IsZero() {
			if !item.UpdatedAt.IsZero() {
				item.PostUpdateTime = item.UpdatedAt
			} else if !item.CreatedAt.IsZero() {
				item.PostUpdateTime = item.CreatedAt
			}
			if _, err = x.Context(ctx).Update(item, &QuestionPostTime{ID: item.ID}); err != nil {
				log.Errorf("update %+v config failed: %s", item, err)
				return fmt.Errorf("update question failed: %w", err)
			}
		}
	}

	return nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 3b9f137061)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped driver error for timeout vs connection vs schema causes
2. Increase DB query/memory limits if the table is very large
3. Verify the question table schema matches entity.Question
4. Re-run the migration after the DB is healthy

Example fix

// before
err := x.Context(ctx).Find(&questionList, &entity.Question{})
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("get questions failed: %w", err)
}
// after (batch to avoid huge single scan)
err := x.Context(ctx).Find(&questionList, &entity.Question{})
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("get questions failed: %w", err)
}

// check table size and connectivity before the full scan
var cnt int64
db.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM question").Scan(&cnt)
if cnt > 1_000_000 {
	log.Println("large question table; expect a long migration")
}

if err := runMigrations(); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "get questions failed") {
		log.Fatalf("question read failed, cause: %v", errors.Unwrap(err))
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: x.Context(ctx).Find(&questionList, &entity.Question{}) returns non-nil err at the start of the v12 migration.

Common situations: Very large question table causing query timeout; question table schema drift after a failed prior upgrade; DB connection dropped during the full-table scan.

Related errors

• %s failed: %s
• sync version failed: %v
• get config failed: %w
• update config failed: %w
• add config failed: %w

AI-assisted analysis of apache/answer@3b9f137061 (2026-09-05). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d342dc0fdd4d3c23. Report an issue: GitHub.