gastownhall/beads · error

failed to set issue_prefix from imported issues: %w

Error message

failed to set issue_prefix from imported issues: %w

What it means

After importing issues, if no issue_prefix is configured, importFromLocalJSONLWithOpts auto-detects it from the first imported issue's ID (utils.ExtractIssuePrefix) and writes it via store.SetConfig. This error wraps a failure of that SetConfig write — the issues imported, but the prefix could not be recorded.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/import_shared.go:1166

	result := &importLocalResult{}

	// Import memories
	for key, value := range configEntries {
		if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, key, value); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to import config %q: %w", key, err)
		}
		result.Memories++
	}

	// Import issues
	if len(issues) > 0 {
		// Auto-detect prefix from first issue if not already configured
		configuredPrefix, err := store.GetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix")
		if err == nil && strings.TrimSpace(configuredPrefix) == "" {
			firstPrefix := utils.ExtractIssuePrefix(issues[0].ID)
			if firstPrefix != "" {
				if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix", firstPrefix); err != nil {
					return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to set issue_prefix from imported issues: %w", err)
				}
			}
		}

		opts := ImportOptions{
			SkipPrefixValidation: true,
			ConflictSkip:         conflictSkip,
		}
		importResult, err := importIssuesCore(ctx, "", store, issues, opts)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		result.Issues = importResult.Created
	}

	return result, nil
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped %w cause for the underlying DB error
2. Set the prefix manually once the DB is writable: `bd config set issue_prefix <prefix>`
3. Check gateway credentials/permissions if using a hosted database
4. Ensure the Dolt server is running and the data dir has free space, then re-run

Example fix

// before: auto-detect write fails on read-only gateway
// after: provisioned prefix should already exist server-side; verify with
bd config get issue_prefix  # if empty, re-provision server-side or use writable credentials

prefix, err := store.GetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix")
if err != nil { return err }
if strings.TrimSpace(prefix) == "" {
    // prefix will be auto-set from issues[0]; ensure the store is writable first
    if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix", "_probe"); err != nil { return err }
}

if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "issue_prefix", firstPrefix); err != nil {
    log.Printf("could not persist auto-detected prefix %q: %v", firstPrefix, err)
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: JSONL import where issues[0].ID has a detectable prefix (e.g. "bd-1"), store.GetConfig("issue_prefix") returned empty, and the subsequent SetConfig("issue_prefix", prefix) fails against the Dolt store (DB error, read-only gateway, locked DB).

Common situations: Same DB-level problems as config import: read-only hosted credentials, Dolt server down, disk full; importing into a database provisioned without a prefix (which in gateway mode is normally rejected earlier).

Related errors

• failed to import config %q: %w
• failed to load config: %w
• db: SetConfig %s: %w
• ErrTransaction
• ErrQuery

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/330125428c281218. Report an issue: GitHub.