gastownhall/beads · error

failed to create issue: %w

Error message

failed to create issue: %w

What it means

Wraps a failure from createIssueWithDeps, which creates the issue and its edges (parent-child, form deps) in one transaction. If any edge write fails the whole create rolls back, so the issue was NOT created. The wrapped error names the failing edge or write.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/create_form.go:193

		} else {
			depType = types.DepBlocks
			dependsOnID = depSpec
		}

		if !depType.IsValid() {
			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: invalid dependency type '%s' (valid: blocks, related, parent-child, discovered-from)\n", depType)
			continue
		}

		depSpecs = append(depSpecs, domain.DependencySpec{Type: depType, TargetID: dependsOnID})
	}

	// The issue and its edges (parent-child per GH#1983, plus form deps)
	// commit in one transaction; a failed edge rolls back the create instead
	// of leaving a dep-less issue behind (same contract as bd create).
	edges := createDepEdges{parentID: fv.ParentID, specs: depSpecs}
	if err := createIssueWithDeps(ctx, s, issue, actor, edges); err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create issue: %w", err)
	}

	if edges.empty() {
		// Bare create: preserve the embedded-mode follow-up Dolt commit.
		// The deps path commits inside its transaction instead.
		shouldCommit, err := shouldCommitCreatePostWrites(issue, false)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("dolt auto-commit: %w", err)
		}
		if shouldCommit {
			commitMsg := fmt.Sprintf("bd: create %s", issue.ID)
			if err := s.Commit(ctx, commitMsg); err != nil && !isDoltNothingToCommit(err) {
				WarnError("failed to commit post-create metadata: %v", err)
			}
		}
	}

	return issue, nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error for which dep/edge failed
2. Verify all dep target IDs exist (`bd show <id>` for each)
3. Retry — collision preflight is not airtight across processes
4. Create without deps first, then add deps with `bd dep add`

Example fix

// before (form references nonexistent dep)
{"deps":[{"target":"bd-9999","type":"blocks"}]}
// after: use an existing ID
{"deps":[{"target":"bd-42","type":"blocks"}]}

for _, d := range depSpecs {
    if _, err := findIssue(d.Target); err != nil {
        return fmt.Errorf("dep target %s does not exist", d.Target)
    }
}

issue, err := CreateIssueFromFormValues(ctx, fv)
if err != nil {
    var target ErrDepMissing
    if errors.As(err, &target) { /* fix or drop the dep and retry */ }
    return err // issue was NOT created; do not assume it exists
}

When it happens

Trigger: CreateIssueFromFormValues calls createIssueWithDeps with non-empty edges (parentID or depSpecs) and the transaction fails: duplicate ID collision, invalid dep target, or storage write error.

Common situations: Form references a dep target ID that doesn't exist; concurrent create claiming the same ID; Dolt transaction failure mid-write.

Related errors

• ErrNotFound
• rollback checked close savepoint: %w
• ensure issue ID available: ID is empty
• check %s for issue %q: %w
• retarget inbound dependencies to wisp in %s for %s: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5ba85b5311faf0c7. Report an issue: GitHub.