What causes "failed to count issues: %w" in gastownhall/beads?

Verify the database name in the DSN matches the beads database and that the issues table exists (SHOW TABLES)

failed to count issues: %w

Error message

failed to count issues: %w

What it means

runDoltDiagnosticQueries runs 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM issues' to populate TotalIssues; if that query fails the error is wrapped as 'failed to count issues'. Subsequent open-issue count failures are tolerated (-1), so this first query is the hard gate — usually schema or connectivity problems.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/doctor/perf_dolt.go:158

	db.SetMaxOpenConns(5)
	db.SetMaxIdleConns(2)

	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
	defer cancel()
	if err := db.PingContext(ctx); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to ping server: %w", err)
	}
	metrics.ConnectionTime = time.Since(start).Milliseconds()

	// Run all diagnostics
	return runDoltDiagnosticQueries(ctx, db, metrics)
}

// runDoltDiagnosticQueries runs the diagnostic queries and populates metrics
func runDoltDiagnosticQueries(ctx context.Context, db *sql.DB, metrics *DoltPerfMetrics) error {
	// Get issue counts
	if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM issues").Scan(&metrics.TotalIssues); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to count issues: %w", err)
	}

	if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM issues WHERE status != 'closed'").Scan(&metrics.OpenIssues); err != nil {
		metrics.OpenIssues = -1 // Mark as unavailable
	}

	if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM issues WHERE status = 'closed'").Scan(&metrics.ClosedIssues); err != nil {
		metrics.ClosedIssues = -1
	}

	if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dependencies").Scan(&metrics.Dependencies); err != nil {
		metrics.Dependencies = -1
	}

	// Try to get Dolt version
	if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT dolt_version()").Scan(&metrics.DoltVersion); err != nil {
		metrics.DoltVersion = "unknown"
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

Verify the database name in the DSN matches the beads database and that the issues table exists (SHOW TABLES)
Run schema migration/upgrade so the beads schema matches this bd version
Check connectivity stability and permissions on the issues table

Example fix

// before
db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM issues") // table missing in wrong db
// after
if err := ensureBeadsSchema(db); err != nil { return err } // creates/migrates schema first

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

var one int
if err := db.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT 1 FROM issues LIMIT 1").Scan(&one); err != nil {
    // schema missing — run migrations before counting
}

Try / catch

if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to count issues") {
    var mysqlErr *mysql.MySQLError
    if errors.As(errors.Unwrap(err), &mysqlErr) && mysqlErr.Number == 1146 { /* table missing: migrate */ }
}

Prevention

Confirm the DSN points at the beads database name
Run bd schema migrations on upgrade before doctor checks
Check connectivity stability between ping and queries

When it happens

Trigger: QueryRowContext on the issues table errors: table missing (empty/uninitialized or wrong database), connection dropped mid-query, permission denied, or context deadline exceeded.

Common situations: Connecting to a Dolt database without the beads schema (fresh server, wrong dbname); server restarted between ping and query; schema version mismatch after upgrade.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f772fc413aede207. Report an issue: GitHub.