What causes "creating wisp_dependencies for migration 0047: %w" in gastownhall/beads?

Retry bd init — the DDL is CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS and idempotent

creating wisp_dependencies for migration 0047: %w

Error message

creating wisp_dependencies for migration 0047: %w

What it means

When wisp_dependencies is missing, the repair creates it from wispDependenciesTableDDLForMigration0047 — the split-target shape with foreign keys to wisps and issues. This error wraps failure of that CREATE TABLE: most commonly a missing/mismatched FK target, a connection drop mid-DDL, or Dolt rejecting a DDL feature (CHECK constraint, UUID() expression default).

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/schema/migration_repairs.go:216

// (lease columns added then removed again) or 56 belongs here.
func ensureWispTablesForMixedBlockedRecompute(ctx context.Context, db DBConn) error {
	hasWisps, err := schemaTableExists(ctx, db, "wisps")
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("checking wisps table: %w", err)
	}
	if !hasWisps {
		if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, wispsTableDDLForMigration0047); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("creating wisps for migration 0047: %w", err)
		}
	}

	hasWispDeps, err := schemaTableExists(ctx, db, "wisp_dependencies")
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("checking wisp_dependencies table: %w", err)
	}
	if !hasWispDeps {
		if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, wispDependenciesTableDDLForMigration0047); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("creating wisp_dependencies for migration 0047: %w", err)
		}
		return nil
	}

	return ensureWispDependenciesSplitTargets(ctx, db)
}

// ensureWispIsBlockedForRecompute repairs a drift shape in ignored/0006's own
// guard: it no-ops (SELECT 1) when wisps does not exist yet at the moment it
// runs, and once the ignored cursor advances past 6 that migration is never
// pending again (pending = version > MAX(cursor); a missing low-numbered row
// does not lower the high-water mark). wisps can be materialized without
// is_blocked several ways -- ignored/0001's own CREATE-then-RENAME leaves an
// existing wisps table untouched, and the main-side 0047 repair above
// creates wisps at the wispsTableDDLForMigration0047 shape, which has no
// is_blocked column, whenever the main pass reaches version 47 with wisps
// entirely missing. Whichever path, a clone that ends up there permanently
// lacks the column, and BOTH ignored/0007 and ignored/0015's frozen

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

Retry bd init — the DDL is CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS and idempotent
Verify the FK target tables (wisps, issues) exist with an id column; the wisps branch runs first in the same repair
Check the Dolt server version supports CHECK constraints and expression defaults; upgrade if not
Inspect the wrapped SQL error for the failing clause (FK vs CHECK vs connection)

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// ensure FK targets exist before the DDL can succeed
for _, t := range []string{"wisps", "issues"} {
    var n int
    db.QueryRowContext(ctx, `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
      WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = DATABASE() AND TABLE_NAME = ?`, t).Scan(&n)
    if n == 0 { return fmt.Errorf("FK target %s missing; cannot create wisp_dependencies", t) }
}

Try / catch

if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, wispDependenciesTableDDLForMigration0047); err != nil {
    if isUnsupportedDDL(err) { // CHECK constraint / expression default rejected
        return fmt.Errorf("upgrade Dolt server: %w", err)
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Verify Dolt server version supports CHECK constraints and expression defaults before upgrading
Ensure the wisps branch of the repair ran first — it creates the FK target
Retry after transient failures; DDL is CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS
Check for stale conflicting objects before re-running init

When it happens

Trigger: Clone reaching 0047 with wisp_dependencies absent; CREATE TABLE fails because wisps/issues are missing or drifted (FK targets), the connection dropped, or the Dolt server does not support a DDL feature used.

Common situations: Clone-skew after a schema bump; older Dolt server lacking feature support; interrupted prior init leaving wisps created but wisp_dependencies not; drifted issues table missing FK target columns.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a30fc7528d1281ca. Report an issue: GitHub.