gastownhall/beads · error

failed to get config: %w

Error message

failed to get config: %w

What it means

Reading the issue_prefix row from the config table failed with a database error that is neither 'no rows' nor an empty value — i.e. the lookup itself failed. Unlike the ErrNotInitialized case, this indicates a storage problem rather than missing configuration.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/issueops/helpers.go:529

		return false
	}
	s := strings.ToLower(err.Error())
	return strings.Contains(s, "nothing to commit") ||
		(strings.Contains(s, "no changes") && strings.Contains(s, "commit"))
}

// ReadConfigPrefix reads and normalizes issue_prefix from the config table.
func ReadConfigPrefix(ctx context.Context, tx DBTX) (string, error) {
	var configPrefix string
	err := tx.QueryRowContext(ctx, "SELECT value FROM config WHERE `key` = ?", "issue_prefix").Scan(&configPrefix)
	if err == sql.ErrNoRows || configPrefix == "" {
		yamlPrefix := strings.TrimSpace(config.GetString("issue-prefix"))
		underscoreYamlPrefix := strings.TrimSpace(config.GetString("issue_prefix"))
		debug.Logf("Debug: missing config.issue_prefix in database (err=%v, db value=%q, yaml issue-prefix=%q, yaml issue_prefix=%q)\n",
			err, configPrefix, yamlPrefix, underscoreYamlPrefix)
		return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: issue_prefix config is missing (run 'bd init --prefix <prefix>' for a new project, or 'bd bootstrap' to clone an existing remote; if using config.yaml, use key 'issue-prefix', not 'issue_prefix')", storage.ErrNotInitialized)
	} else if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to get config: %w", err)
	}
	return strings.TrimSuffix(configPrefix, "-"), nil
}

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Nullable value helpers
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

// NullString returns nil for empty strings, otherwise the string value.
func NullString(s string) interface{} {
	if s == "" {
		return nil
	}
	return s
}

// NullStringPtr returns nil for nil pointers, otherwise the pointed-to string.
func NullStringPtr(s *string) interface{} {

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped error and Dolt server logs for the underlying cause (lock, I/O, connection).
2. Retry the command — this is often transient; if it recurs, test with a direct query: SELECT value FROM config WHERE `key`='issue_prefix'.
3. Verify the .beads database isn't locked/corrupted; try `bd doctor` or re-clone via 'bd bootstrap'.
4. Ensure network/server stability if using a remote Dolt endpoint; increase timeouts if deadlines are involved.

Example fix

// before: one-shot call that fails hard on a transient DB hiccup
prefix, err := storage.ReadConfigPrefix(ctx, tx)
// after: retry transient failures
var prefix string
err := retry.Do(func() error { p, e := storage.ReadConfigPrefix(ctx, tx); prefix = p; return e }, retry.Attempts(3))

if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("context already cancelled/expired before config read: %w", err)
}
if err := db.PingContext(ctx); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("database unreachable before config read: %w", err)
}

prefix, err := storage.ReadConfigPrefix(ctx, tx)
if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, storage.ErrNotInitialized) {
    // transient DB failure — retry with backoff in a fresh tx
    return retry.Do(func() error { return readPrefixAndRun(ctx) }, retry.Attempts(3))
}

When it happens

Trigger: ReadConfigPrefix's SELECT value FROM config WHERE `key` = 'issue_prefix' fails: connection dropped, Dolt server error, locked database, corrupted config table, or context cancellation during the query.

Common situations: Dolt server restarting during a bd command; .beads database locked by another long-running process; disk I/O errors; context deadline exceeded on a slow remote Dolt connection.

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

• ErrQuery
• failed to get federation peer: %w
• db: CommentSQLRepository.CountsByIssueIDs: %w
• db: CommentSQLRepository.ListByIssueIDs: %w
• db: LabelSQLRepository.ListByIssueIDs: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5351462f938e058b. Report an issue: GitHub.