gastownhall/beads · error

failed to search for existing databases: %w

Error message

failed to search for existing databases: %w

What it means

migrateOldDatabases globs `<beads-dir>/*.db` to find legacy database files that should be renamed to the canonical beads.db. This error wraps a filepath.Glob failure. It is rare: Glob only errors on malformed patterns (ErrBadPattern), so it usually indicates an internal/configuration problem with the target path rather than an environment issue.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/init.go:2377

func migrateOldDatabases(targetPath string, quiet bool) error {
	targetDir := filepath.Dir(targetPath)
	targetName := filepath.Base(targetPath)

	// If target already exists, no migration needed
	if _, err := os.Stat(targetPath); err == nil {
		return nil
	}

	// Create .beads directory if it doesn't exist
	if err := os.MkdirAll(targetDir, 0750); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create .beads directory: %w", err)
	}

	// Look for existing .db files in the .beads directory
	pattern := filepath.Join(targetDir, "*.db")
	matches, err := filepath.Glob(pattern)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to search for existing databases: %w", err)
	}

	// Filter out the target file name and any backup files
	var oldDBs []string
	for _, match := range matches {
		baseName := filepath.Base(match)
		if baseName != targetName && !strings.HasSuffix(baseName, ".backup.db") {
			oldDBs = append(oldDBs, match)
		}
	}

	if len(oldDBs) == 0 {
		// No old databases to migrate
		return nil
	}

	if len(oldDBs) > 1 {
		// Multiple databases found - ambiguous, require manual intervention

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Inspect the resolved .beads directory path (echo $BEADS_DIR) for malformed characters and correct it.
2. Re-run bd init; the error is usually transient/config-derived since the "*.db" pattern is fixed.
3. If reproducible with a plain path, report it as a bug with the exact targetDir value.

Example fix

// before
export BEADS_DIR='/weird[path with [brackets'
bd init  # failed to search for existing databases: syntax error in pattern

// after
export BEADS_DIR='/home/me/project/.beads'
bd init

if strings.ContainsAny(beadsDir, "[]*") {
    return fmt.Errorf("BEADS_DIR %q contains glob metacharacters; use a plain path", beadsDir)
}

if err := migrateOldDatabases(targetPath, quiet); err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to search for existing databases") {
    // glob pattern malformed: log the resolved dir and abort with a config hint
    return fmt.Errorf("check BEADS_DIR for invalid characters: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `bd init` when filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(targetDir, "*.db")) returns a non-nil error — in practice only when the joined pattern is malformed (e.g. a targetDir containing an invalid glob character sequence on platforms that enforce ErrBadPattern).

Common situations: BEADS_DIR or target path containing unusual characters that corrupt the glob pattern; a bug in path construction upstream; almost never hit by ordinary users since "*.db" is itself a valid pattern.

Related errors

• failed to create .beads directory: %w
• dolt path is not executable
• server: NewDoltServer: failed to determine absolute path of
• server: NewDoltServer: failed to determine absolute path of
• server: NewDoltServer: failed to determine absolute path of

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d75919dc88f421ba. Report an issue: GitHub.