gastownhall/beads · error

failed to set routing contributor path: %w

Error message

failed to set routing contributor path: %w

What it means

Wraps an error from store.SetConfig when writing the 'routing.contributor' key (the planning repo path) during the contributor wizard. Same mechanism as the routing.mode failure: the beads config store failed to persist the value, aborting setup. The wrapped error names the underlying storage problem.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/init_contributor.go:213

		cmd = exec.Command("git", "commit", "-m", "Initial commit: beads planning repository")
		cmd.Dir = planningPath
		_ = cmd.Run()

		fmt.Printf("%s Planning repository created\n", ui.RenderPass("✓"))
	} else {
		fmt.Printf("%s Using existing planning repository\n", ui.RenderPass("✓"))
	}

	// Step 4: Configure contributor routing
	fmt.Printf("\n%s Configuring contributor auto-routing...\n", ui.RenderAccent("▶"))

	// Set routing config (canonical namespace per internal/config/config.go)
	if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "routing.mode", "auto"); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set routing mode: %w", err)
	}
	if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "routing.contributor", planningPath); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set routing contributor path: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Printf("%s Auto-routing enabled\n", ui.RenderPass("✓"))

	// Step 4b: Enable multi-repo hydration so routed issues are visible (bd-fix-routing)
	fmt.Printf("\n%s Configuring multi-repo hydration...\n", ui.RenderAccent("▶"))

	// Find config.yaml path
	configPath, err := config.FindConfigYAMLPath()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to find config.yaml: %w", err)
	}

	// Add planning repo to repos.additional for hydration
	if err := config.AddRepo(configPath, planningPath); err != nil {
		// Check if already added (non-fatal)
		if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "already exists") {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to configure hydration: %w", err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped cause and fix the underlying store error
2. Run bd doctor or bd init to verify/repair the .beads Dolt store
3. Ensure the Dolt server is running if the build requires server mode
4. Check permissions on the .beads directory

// Pre-check that the config store is openable before configuring routing
if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "routing.mode", "off"); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("config store not writable, fix before contributor setup: %w", err)
}

if err := runContributorWizard(ctx, store, ...); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to set routing contributor path") {
		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "storage failure while writing config; check .beads store and Dolt server")
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: store.SetConfig(ctx, "routing.contributor", planningPath) returns an error inside runContributorWizard — same storage failures as the routing.mode write: locked/corrupt/missing Dolt store, server unreachable.

Common situations: Same as routing.mode failure: broken .beads store, concurrent bd process holding a lock, no Dolt server for server-mode builds, permission or disk issues.

Related errors

• failed to set routing mode: %w
• database config fix not applicable for Dolt backend (data is
• failed to find config.yaml: %w
• failed to configure hydration: %w
• failed to set sync remote: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/941eb22b22639310. Report an issue: GitHub.