What causes "failed to create digest issue: %w" in gastownhall/beads?

Check the wrapped cause for the specific CreateIssue failure (constraint, lock, IO)

failed to create digest issue: %w

Error message

failed to create digest issue: %w

What it means

Inside the squash transaction, squashMoleculeInto creates the digest issue summarizing the molecule. If w.CreateIssue fails, the error is wrapped as 'failed to create digest issue: %w'. Because this happens inside a transact() block, the whole squash rolls back — no children are deleted.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/mol_squash.go:298

		Description: digestContent,
		Status:      types.StatusClosed,
		CloseReason: fmt.Sprintf("Squashed from %d wisps", len(children)),
		Priority:    root.Priority,
		IssueType:   types.TypeTask,
		Ephemeral:   false, // Digest is permanent, not a wisp
		ClosedAt:    &now,
	}

	result := &SquashResult{
		MoleculeID:    root.ID,
		SquashedIDs:   childIDs,
		SquashedCount: len(children),
		KeptChildren:  keepChildren,
	}

	// Create digest issue
	if err := w.CreateIssue(ctx, digestIssue, actorName); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create digest issue: %w", err)
	}
	result.DigestID = digestIssue.ID

	// Link digest to root as parent-child
	dep := &types.Dependency{
		IssueID:     digestIssue.ID,
		DependsOnID: root.ID,
		Type:        types.DepParentChild,
	}
	if err := w.AddDependency(ctx, dep, actorName); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to link digest to root: %w", err)
	}

	// Delete ephemeral children within the same transaction
	if !keepChildren {
		for _, id := range childIDs {
			if err := w.DeleteIssue(ctx, id, actorName); err != nil {
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to delete child %s: %w", id, err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

Check the wrapped cause for the specific CreateIssue failure (constraint, lock, IO)
Ensure no other bd process is writing; close concurrent sessions and retry
Verify database is writable and has free disk space
Run bd doctor to check schema/version compatibility, then retry the squash

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Ensure DB is writable before starting the squash
if err := s.CreateIssue(ctx, probeIssue, actor); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("storage not writable: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

res, err := squashMolecule(ctx, s, root, children, keep, summary, actor)
if err != nil {
    var target *fmt.WrapError // or inspect message
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to create digest issue") {
        log.Printf("digest creation failed; transaction rolled back: %v", errors.Unwrap(err))
    }
    return err
}

Prevention

Check disk space and file writability before large squashes
Avoid concurrent bd processes on the same database
Run bd doctor after upgrades to catch schema drift

When it happens

Trigger: bd mol squash when inserting the digest issue fails: constraint violations (e.g., duplicate ID, invalid priority/status), storage write error, or database locked/unavailable mid-transaction.

Common situations: Read-only database file or full disk; concurrent bd process holding the write lock; schema mismatch after version upgrade; digest title/content violating validation rules.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3f15d22f7e45fe13. Report an issue: GitHub.