gastownhall/beads · error

failed to set routing.contributor: %w

Error message

failed to set routing.contributor: %w

What it means

During `bd init --contributor`, autoConfigureForkContributor persists fork-routing configuration keys via store.SetConfig. When writing the `routing.contributor` key (the planning-repo path) fails, the underlying store error is wrapped with this message. It means the fork-contributor auto-configuration aborted partway, after `routing.mode` was already set to `auto`.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/init_contributor.go:339

		}
		planningBeadsDir := filepath.Join(planningPath, ".beads")
		if err := os.MkdirAll(planningBeadsDir, 0750); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create .beads in planning repo: %w", err)
		}
		// Initialize the planning Dolt schema so commands like bd migrate-personal
		// can open the store immediately without hitting an uninitialized DB.
		// Non-fatal: no-CGO and server-mode builds skip this silently; the schema
		// initializes on first use once a Dolt server is running for that path.
		if planningStore, storeErr := newDoltStoreFromConfig(ctx, planningBeadsDir); storeErr == nil {
			_ = planningStore.Close()
		}
	}

	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: %w", err)
	}
	if err := store.SetConfig(ctx, "sync.remote", "upstream"); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set sync.remote: %w", err)
	}

	_ = exec.Command("git", "config", "beads.role", "contributor").Run()

	if configPath, err := config.FindConfigYAMLPath(); err == nil {
		if addErr := config.AddRepo(configPath, planningPath); addErr != nil && !strings.Contains(addErr.Error(), "already exists") {
			// Non-fatal: hydration config failure doesn't block routing setup
		}
	}

	if !quiet {
		fmt.Printf("\n%s Fork detected — configuring contributor routing\n", ui.RenderAccent("▶"))
		fmt.Printf("  upstream: %s\n\n", upstreamURL)
		fmt.Printf("  %s Planning repo: %s\n", ui.RenderPass("✓"), planningPath)
		fmt.Printf("  %s Issues will route to planning repo (routing.mode=auto)\n", ui.RenderPass("✓"))

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Ensure no other bd process holds the .beads database (close other sessions, remove stale locks) and re-run `bd init --contributor`.
2. Check filesystem permissions and free space on the directory containing the .beads store.
3. Read the wrapped underlying error after the colon — it identifies the exact storage failure.
4. If `routing.mode` was already set to `auto` but `routing.contributor` is missing, reset routing.mode and re-run init: `bd config set routing.mode local` (or equivalent) then `bd init --contributor`.

Example fix

// before (partially configured repo)
bd config get routing.contributor  // empty, routing.mode = auto
// after: clear partial state and re-init
bd config set routing.mode auto  // re-run full init
bd init --contributor

// Check config store is writable before init
if _, err := os.Stat(".beads"); err != nil { /* no beads dir; init will create it */ }
if info, err := os.Stat(".beads"); err == nil && info.Mode()&0200 == 0 {
    return fmt.Errorf(".beads is not writable")
}

if err := autoConfigureForkContributor(ctx, store, planningPath); err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "failed to set routing.contributor") {
        // inspect wrapped cause, clear partial routing.mode, retry after fixing storage
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: The store.SetConfig(ctx, "routing.contributor", planningPath) call returns an error — typically a locked or unwritable underlying database/config storage, a failed Dolt transaction, or a corrupted .beads config store during `bd init --contributor`.

Common situations: Running `bd init --contributor` in a repo whose .beads database is locked by another bd process, disk-full or permission-denied on the config storage, or a partially-corrupted config table left by a previous failed init.

Related errors

• failed to set sync branch: %w
• failed to record the workspace identity: %v
• failed to persist sync.remote to config.yaml: %v
• failed to load %s: %w; refusing to reinitialize automaticall
• failed to set beads.role config: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8d3d55b98ef3cee3. Report an issue: GitHub.