What causes "db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: affected set: %w" in gastownhall/beads?

Retry after confirming DB connectivity (transient failure).

db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: affected set: %w

Error message

db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: affected set: %w

What it means

This error wraps a failure from computing the set of issues affected by a dependency change (AffectedByDepChangeInTx / AffectedByDepChangeForWispInTx), which expands the source by parent-child descendants and waiters. This set drives is_blocked propagation, so the insert aborts before marking.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/domain/db/dependency.go:206

	// is_blocked maintenance mirrors the classic AddDependencyInTx flow
	// (issueops/dependencies.go): the affected set expands the source by its
	// parent-child descendants (plus, for parent-child edges, waiters on the
	// target spawner), then a Mark pass propagates blocked state — or, for
	// parent-child adds (not monotonic: an already-closed child can satisfy an
	// any-children waits-for gate), a full mark/unmark Recompute. Skipping the
	// expansion left descendants stale when a blocking edge landed on their
	// ancestor (bd-6dnrw.44 item 3).
	srcIsWisp := opts.UseWispsTable
	var affectedIssues, affectedWisps []string
	var aerr error
	if srcIsWisp {
		affectedIssues, affectedWisps, aerr = issueops.AffectedByDepChangeForWispInTx(ctx, r.runner, dep.IssueID, dep.DependsOnID, dep.Type)
	} else {
		affectedIssues, affectedWisps, aerr = issueops.AffectedByDepChangeInTx(ctx, r.runner, dep.IssueID, dep.DependsOnID, dep.Type)
	}
	if aerr != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: affected set: %w", aerr)
	}
	if dep.Type == types.DepBlocks || dep.Type == types.DepConditionalBlocks {
		if err := r.markDirectBlockedSource(ctx, dep.IssueID, srcIsWisp, dep.DependsOnID, targetCol); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: mark is_blocked: %w", err)
		}
		affectedIssues, affectedWisps = issueops.RemoveSourceFromAffected(dep.IssueID, srcIsWisp, affectedIssues, affectedWisps)
	}
	if dep.Type == types.DepParentChild {
		if err := issueops.RecomputeIsBlockedInTx(ctx, r.runner, affectedIssues, affectedWisps); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: recompute is_blocked: %w", err)
		}
		// Snapshot only after all derived blocked-state maintenance has completed.
		return issueops.RecordDepEventInTx(ctx, r.runner, issueops.EventDepAdd, dep.IssueID, string(dep.Type), dep.DependsOnID, metadata, actor)
	}
	if err := issueops.MarkIsBlockedInTx(ctx, r.runner, affectedIssues, affectedWisps); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("db: DependencySQLRepository.Insert: mark is_blocked (affected): %w", err)
	}
	// Snapshot only after all derived blocked-state maintenance has completed.

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

Retry after confirming DB connectivity (transient failure).
Verify schema matches current beads version (bd doctor / migrate).
For very large hierarchies, check for query timeouts in the driver config.
Inspect the wrapped aerr for the failing query.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Try / catch

if err := repo.Insert(ctx, dep, actor, opts); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "affected set") {
        // transient traversal failure: backoff and retry, then run blocked-state repair
    }
}

Prevention

Keep parent-child hierarchies shallow where possible.
Run bd doctor to detect schema drift.
Retry transient DB failures with backoff.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Insert where the affected-set query fails — recursive/descendant expansion query hits a driver error (connection loss, missing column, timeout on very deep hierarchies).

Common situations: Schema drift removing columns the affected-set query expects; timeouts on extremely deep parent-child trees; transient DB connection failures.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2468edb9d11d7e46. Report an issue: GitHub.