gastownhall/beads · error

get dependents: rows from %s: %w

Error message

get dependents: rows from %s: %w

What it means

This wraps rows.Err() failing after the dependent-row iteration completes in GetDependentsWithMetadataInTx. database/sql defers some driver errors (connection loss, context cancellation, protocol errors) to the end of iteration; this is where they surface. The message names the table whose row stream failed.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/issueops/dependencies.go:1185

	// Query both dependency tables to find all dependents.
	var deps []depMeta
	for _, depTable := range []string{"dependencies", "wisp_dependencies"} {
		rows, err := tx.QueryContext(ctx, fmt.Sprintf(
			`SELECT issue_id, type FROM %s WHERE %s = ?`, depTable, DepTargetExpr), issueID)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("get dependents from %s: %w", depTable, err)
		}
		for rows.Next() {
			var d depMeta
			if scanErr := rows.Scan(&d.depID, &d.depType); scanErr != nil {
				_ = rows.Close()
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("get dependents: scan: %w", scanErr)
			}
			deps = append(deps, d)
		}
		_ = rows.Close()
		if err := rows.Err(); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("get dependents: rows from %s: %w", depTable, err)
		}
	}

	if len(deps) == 0 {
		return nil, nil
	}

	// Fetch all dependent issues.
	ids := make([]string, len(deps))
	for i, d := range deps {
		ids[i] = d.depID
	}
	issues, err := GetIssuesByIDsInTx(ctx, tx, ids, nil)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("get dependents: fetch issues: %w", err)
	}
	issueMap := make(map[string]*types.Issue, len(issues))
	for _, iss := range issues {

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Unwrap the error to see the driver cause (context deadline, bad connection, etc.).
2. Tune connection settings: ConnMaxLifetime below server wait_timeout, keepalives enabled.
3. Ensure the caller's context has enough budget for the whole dependent traversal.
4. Retry the read on a fresh transaction/connection if transient.

Example fix

// before: pool outlives server wait_timeout
sqlDB.SetConnMaxLifetime(0)
// after
sqlDB.SetConnMaxLifetime(4 * time.Minute)
sqlDB.SetConnMaxIdleTime(1 * time.Minute)

// Confirm connectivity and budget before the call
if err := tx.PingContext(ctx); err != nil { return err }
_, ok := ctx.Deadline()
if !ok { ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 30*time.Second); defer cancel(); _ = ok }

func isTransientRowsErr(err error) bool {
    return errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) || errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "bad connection")
}

var deps []*types.IssueWithDependencyMetadata
err := retry.Do(3, func() error {
    var e error
    deps, e = GetDependentsWithMetadataInTx(ctx, tx, issueID)
    return e
})
if err != nil { return err }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GetDependentsWithMetadataInTx when the connection drops or ctx is cancelled while draining dependent rows from dependencies/wisp_dependencies.

Common situations: Idle connection reaped by the server mid-query; request deadline exceeded during a large dependent fan-out; network interruption on remote DB; proxy/load-balancer killing long-lived connections.

Related errors

• db: ChildCounterSQLRepository.NextChildID: rows: %w
• db: CommentSQLRepository.CountsByIssueIDs: rows: %w
• db: CommentSQLRepository.ListByIssueIDs: rows: %w
• get dependencies: rows from %s: %w
• failed to begin transaction: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f99c52ce65d8198e. Report an issue: GitHub.