coleam00/Archon · error

Failed to list open workflow runs: ${err.message}

Error message

Failed to list open workflow runs: ${err.message}

What it means

Thrown by the open-work inbox listing (#2747) when its status-derived query (terminal, failed, unadopted runs) fails. Errors are logged as `db.workflow_open_work_list_failed` and rethrown with this message. An empty inbox is a normal result; only a query failure throws.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/db/workflows.ts:2017

  try {
    const result = await pool.query<WorkflowRun>(
      `SELECT * FROM remote_agent_workflow_runs r
       WHERE r.status = 'failed'
         ${codebaseClause}
         AND NOT EXISTS (
           SELECT 1 FROM remote_agent_workflow_runs a
           WHERE a.adopted_from_run_id = r.id
         )
       ORDER BY r.started_at DESC
       LIMIT ${limitParam}`,
      values
    );
    return result.rows.map(normalizeWorkflowRun);
  } catch (error) {
    const err = error as Error;
    getLog().error({ err }, 'db.workflow_open_work_list_failed');
    throw new Error(`Failed to list open workflow runs: ${err.message}`);
  }
}

/**
 * Runs that adopted or superseded `runId` (#2747) — the reverse direction of
 * `adopted_from_run_id`, same column, no second column. Newest first.
 */
export async function findAdoptingRuns(runId: string): Promise<WorkflowRun[]> {
  try {
    const result = await pool.query<WorkflowRun>(
      'SELECT * FROM remote_agent_workflow_runs WHERE adopted_from_run_id = $1 ORDER BY started_at DESC',
      [runId]
    );
    return result.rows.map(normalizeWorkflowRun);
  } catch (error) {
    const err = error as Error;
    getLog().error({ err, runId }, 'db.workflow_run_adopters_lookup_failed');
    throw new Error(`Failed to find adopting runs: ${err.message}`);

View on GitHub (pinned to 0773b97458)

Solutions

1. Check the `db.workflow_open_work_list_failed` log entry for the real driver error
2. Verify database connectivity and that the deployed schema matches the configured engine
3. Add/refresh indexes if the open-work scan times out on large history
4. Retry after transient failures — the listing is read-only and safe to re-run

Example fix

// before
const open = await listOpenWorkflowRuns(); // throws on DB failure
// after
let open = [];
try {
  open = await listOpenWorkflowRuns();
} catch (e) {
  logger.error({ err: e }, 'open-work inbox unavailable');
}

// pre-flight reachability check
await getDatabase().query('SELECT 1');

function isWorkflowRunArray(v: unknown): v is WorkflowRun[] {
  return Array.isArray(v) && v.every(r => typeof r === 'object' && r !== null && 'id' in r);
}

let openRuns: WorkflowRun[] = [];
try {
  openRuns = await listOpenWorkflowRuns();
} catch (error) {
  log.error({ err: error }, 'open-work inbox query failed; showing empty inbox');
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the open-work list function when the database connection fails, the status-derivation SQL errors for the configured dialect, or the query times out on large tables.

Common situations: Opening the open-work inbox view during a database outage or migration drift; dialect mismatch in status-derivation expressions; slow full scans timing out as run history grows.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to get workflow run: ${err.message}
• Workflow run '${runId}' references codebase '${codebaseId}',
• Failed to load codebase '${codebaseId}' for workflow run '${
• Failed to complete workflow run: ${err.message}
• Workflow run not found or not in running state (id: ${id})

AI-assisted analysis of coleam00/Archon@0773b97458 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/77ea533699ef9735. Report an issue: GitHub.