{"record":{"id":"6dc3751f9cdfe8ef","repo":"ory/kratos","slug":"an-error-occurred-initializing-migrations","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"an error occurred initializing migrations","messagePattern":"an error occurred initializing migrations","errorType":"console","errorClass":null,"httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"cmd/migrate/handler.go","lineNumber":73,"sourceCode":"\t\t\tfmt.Println(cmd.UsageString())\n\t\t\treturn nil, cmdx.FailSilently(cmd)\n\t\t}\n\t\td, err = driver.NewWithoutInit(\n\t\t\tcmd.Context(),\n\t\t\tcmd.ErrOrStderr(),\n\t\t\tdriver.WithConfigOptions(\n\t\t\t\tconfigx.WithFlags(cmd.Flags()),\n\t\t\t\tconfigx.SkipValidation(),\n\t\t\t\tconfigx.WithValue(config.ViperKeyDSN, args[0]),\n\t\t\t))\n\t\tif err != nil {\n\t\t\treturn nil, err\n\t\t}\n\t}\n\n\terr = d.Init(cmd.Context(), &contextx.Default{}, append(opts, driver.SkipNetworkInit)...)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, errors.Wrap(err, \"an error occurred initializing migrations\")\n\t}\n\n\tif err := popx.VerifyDialect(cmd.Context(), d.Persister().GetConnection(cmd.Context())); err != nil {\n\t\treturn nil, err\n\t}\n\n\treturn d, nil\n}\n\nfunc (h *MigrateHandler) MigrateSQLDown(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, opts ...driver.RegistryOption) error {\n\tp, err := h.getPersister(cmd, args, opts)\n\tif err != nil {\n\t\treturn err\n\t}\n\treturn popx.MigrateSQLDown(cmd, p.Persister())\n}\n\nfunc (h *MigrateHandler) MigrateSQLStatus(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, opts ...driver.RegistryOption) error {","sourceCodeStart":55,"sourceCodeEnd":91,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/ory/kratos/blob/b86338da04a040247a07f46100a86dcfb3875909/cmd/migrate/handler.go#L55-L91","documentation":"getPersister builds the storage driver and calls d.Init with driver.SkipNetworkInit to prepare migrations. If driver initialization fails — typically because the database is unreachable, credentials are wrong, or the dialect is unsupported — the error is wrapped with this message. It is a generic wrapper around a deeper driver/database error.","triggerScenarios":"Running any `migrate` subcommand (e.g. `migrate sql up`) when driver.Init fails: bad DSN, database down, missing driver support, or connection refused during initialization.","commonSituations":"Wrong DSN in env/config, database container not started yet, network/firewall blocking the DB, unsupported database flavor, or invalid credentials in CI pipelines.","solutions":["Read the wrapped cause below this message — it names the actual driver failure.","Verify the DSN (driver name, host, port, user, password, database) is correct.","Confirm the database is running and reachable from where the command runs (ping/psql/mysql test).","Ensure the database flavor is supported by the driver used in this build."],"exampleFix":"// before\nexport DSN=postgres://wrong:pass@localhost:5432/kratos?sslmode=disable\nkratos migrate sql up\n// after\nexport DSN=postgres://kratos:secret@localhost:5432/kratos?sslmode=disable\nkratos migrate sql up","handlingStrategy":"retry","validationCode":"// before running migrations\nconn, err := pgx.Connect(ctx, dsn)\nif err != nil { log.Fatalf(\"database unreachable: %v\", err) }\nconn.Close(ctx)","typeGuard":"null","tryCatchPattern":"if err := runMigrations(ctx, dsn); err != nil {\n    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), \"initializing migrations\") {\n        // inspect wrapped cause: connection/auth/dialect\n        time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)\n        return runMigrations(ctx, dsn) // retry once after infra check\n    }\n    return err\n}","preventionTips":["Validate the DSN in a startup health check before migrations","Use readiness probes/wait-for-db in docker-compose and CI","Keep DB credentials in env vars verified by a smoke query"],"tags":["database","migrations","driver-init","cli"],"backgroundTag":"database-query-failed","analyzedSha":"b86338da04a040247a07f46100a86dcfb3875909","analyzedAt":"2026-09-07T15:58:15.934Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-07T15:58:15.934Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-16T09:17:16.951Z"}