gastownhall/beads · error

conflict for %s %s carries no their_* data columns

Error message

conflict for %s %s carries no their_* data columns

What it means

When applying the 'theirs' strategy, resolveOneConflictRow collects their_* data columns from the conflict row to write back into the base table; none were found. This means the conflict row carries no transferable their-side data beyond metadata and the key, so there is nothing to apply. Usually indicates an unexpected conflict-table shape or an empty their-side payload.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/versioncontrolops/conflicts.go:390

// matters, since the delete is what tells dolt the row is settled.
func resolveOneConflictRow(ctx context.Context, db DBConn, table, keyCol, key, strategy string, row rawConflictRow) error {
	ourKey, ourOK := row.value("our", keyCol)
	theirKey, theirOK := row.value("their", keyCol)
	if !ourOK || !theirOK {
		return fmt.Errorf("conflict table dolt_conflicts_%s has no our_%s/their_%s column", table, keyCol, keyCol)
	}
	if ourKey == nil || theirKey == nil {
		// delete/modify (one side removed the row) or add/add against a
		// missing key: refuse by name. Row-level ours/theirs would silently
		// resurrect or destroy a row the operator never looked at.
		return fmt.Errorf("conflict for %s %s is not a modify/modify conflict (one side has no row); "+
			"resolve it with a whole-table strategy or edit the row directly", table, key)
	}

	if strategy == ConflictStrategyTheirs {
		names, vals := row.theirFields(keyCol)
		if len(names) == 0 {
			return fmt.Errorf("conflict for %s %s carries no their_* data columns", table, key)
		}
		sets := make([]string, len(names))
		args := make([]any, 0, len(names)+1)
		for i, n := range names {
			// Column names are interpolated (MySQL cannot bind an
			// identifier) and come from the conflict table's own schema,
			// which a peer's schema merge can extend — gate them exactly
			// like the table name rather than trusting the source.
			if err := ValidateConflictTable(n); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("refusing to write unexpected column %q of %s: %w", n, table, err)
			}
			sets[i] = fmt.Sprintf("`%s` = ?", n)
			args = append(args, vals[i])
		}
		args = append(args, ourKey)
		stmt := fmt.Sprintf("UPDATE `%s` SET %s WHERE `%s` = ?", table, strings.Join(sets, ", "), keyCol) //nolint:gosec // identifiers validated above
		res, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, stmt, args...)
		if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Inspect `SELECT * FROM dolt_conflicts_<table>` to see what their_* columns actually exist
2. Check the dolt version; align peers on a version whose conflict-table layout matches this library's expectations
3. Fall back to whole-table --theirs resolution, which rebuilds rows from the branch rather than the conflict row
4. Abort and redo the merge if the conflict table looks structurally corrupted

Example fix

null

// verify the conflict row carries their_* data columns before theirs strategy
cols, _ := conflictTableColumns(ctx, db, table)
hasData := false
for _, c := range cols {
    if strings.HasPrefix(c, "their_") && !isMetaOrKey(c, keyCol) { hasData = true }
}
if !hasData && strategy == "theirs" { return resolveWholeTable(ctx, db, table, "theirs") }

err := resolveOne(ctx, db, table, keyCol, key, "theirs")
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "carries no their_* data columns") {
    return resolveWholeTable(ctx, db, table, "theirs")
}
return err

When it happens

Trigger: ResolveConflictRows -> resolveOneConflictRow with strategy == theirs calls row.theirFields(keyCol), which filters out our_*, metadata-suffixed columns and the key column; the result is empty, e.g. when the conflict table has only key/metadata columns or column naming deviates from the base_<col>/their_<col> convention.

Common situations: Dolt version whose conflict-table metadata columns are not in the expected suffix set; conflicts created against a table whose data columns were all dropped in a schema merge; manually constructed conflict rows.

Related errors

• failed to recompute is_blocked: %w
• failed to scan comment: %w
• failed to initialize schema: %w
• ignored migrations: %w
• migration %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed47591fa0697743. Report an issue: GitHub.