ExternalDoltConfig: set either Socket OR (Host, Port), not…

Error message

ExternalDoltConfig: set either Socket OR (Host, Port), not both

What it means

Each dependency entry must carry a non-empty TargetID and a valid DependencyType; validatePublicCreateDependencies refuses entries missing either with this fixed message. Unlike other checks it does not include the index, so scan request.Dependencies for the offending entry.

Solutions

Set both TargetID and a valid Type (e.g. types.DepBlocks, DepRelated, DepParentChild, DepWaitsFor) on every dependency entry.
Check the JSON/struct field name mapping so Type is actually populated.
Validate entries in a loop before calling ExecuteCreate, mirroring dependency.Type.IsValid().

Example fix

// before
req.Dependencies = append(req.Dependencies, publicops.DependencyInput{TargetID: "bd-2"}) // Type unset
// after
req.Dependencies = append(req.Dependencies, publicops.DependencyInput{TargetID: "bd-2", Type: types.DepBlocks})

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

for _, d := range req.Dependencies {
    if d.TargetID == "" || !d.Type.IsValid() { return errors.New("dependency target and type are required") }
}

Type guard

func depValid(d publicops.DependencyInput) bool { return d.TargetID != "" && d.Type.IsValid() }

Try / catch

if err := store.ExecuteCreate(ctx, req); err != nil {
    if errors.Is(err, storage.ErrValidation) && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "target and type are required") { /* fix inputs */ }
    return err
}

Prevention

Always set Type explicitly on DependencyInput — never rely on zero values.
Check struct tag/JSON field names when deserializing dependencies.
Only use types.DependencyType constants, not raw strings.

When it happens

Trigger: ExecuteCreate/ValidatePublicCreateRequest where a Dependencies element has TargetID == "" or dependency.Type not matching a known types.DependencyType (Type.IsValid() false); check at public_create.go:168.

Common situations: Constructing DependencyInput structs programmatically and forgetting to set Type; deserializing JSON where the type field is named differently and lands as zero value; using a custom/renamed dependency type string not in the valid set.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0fd6ad7e38f9cc90. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at internal/configfile/external_dolt_config.go:46

	TLSSkipVerify   bool          `json:"tls_skip_verify,omitempty"`
	KeepAlivePeriod time.Duration `json:"keep_alive_period,omitempty"`
}

func (c ExternalDoltConfig) ResolvedUser() string {
	if c.User == "" {
		return ExternalDoltConfigDefaultUser
	}
	return c.User
}

func (c ExternalDoltConfig) Validate() error {
	hasHost := c.Host != ""
	hasPort := c.Port != 0
	hasSocket := c.Socket != ""

	switch {
	case hasSocket && (hasHost || hasPort):
		return errors.New("ExternalDoltConfig: set either Socket OR (Host, Port), not both")
	case !hasSocket && !hasHost && !hasPort:
		return errors.New("ExternalDoltConfig: must set Socket or (Host, Port)")
	case hasHost && !hasPort:
		return errors.New("ExternalDoltConfig: Host requires Port")
	case !hasHost && hasPort:
		return errors.New("ExternalDoltConfig: Port requires Host")
	}

	if hasHost && (c.Port < 1 || c.Port > 65535) {
		return fmt.Errorf("ExternalDoltConfig: Port %d out of range [1, 65535]", c.Port)
	}

	if hasSocket && !filepath.IsAbs(c.Socket) {
		return fmt.Errorf("ExternalDoltConfig: Socket %q is not absolute", c.Socket)
	}

	switch {
	case c.TLSCert != "" && c.TLSKey == "":

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