What causes "invalid --dolt-auto-commit=%q (valid: off, on, batch)" in gastownhall/beads?

Use one of exactly off, on, or batch (lowercase) for --dolt-auto-commit

invalid --dolt-auto-commit=

Error message

invalid --dolt-auto-commit=%q (valid: off, on, batch)

What it means

getDoltAutoCommitMode validates the --dolt-auto-commit flag value and rejects anything other than the three allowed modes: off, on, or batch. This is pure input validation: the flag string did not match any known mode constant. The error names the invalid value and the valid options so the user can correct the command line.

Solutions

Use one of exactly off, on, or batch (lowercase) for --dolt-auto-commit
Check the script/CI config for typos or stray whitespace in the flag value
Run bd dolt --help (or the wrapping command's help) to confirm accepted values

Example fix

// before
bd push --dolt-auto-commit=auto
// after
bd push --dolt-auto-commit=batch

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

func validAutoCommit(v string) bool {
    switch v { case "off", "on", "batch": return true }
    return false
}
if !validAutoCommit(flagVal) { return fmt.Errorf("invalid --dolt-auto-commit=%q (valid: off, on, batch)", flagVal) }

Prevention

Only use the literal strings off, on, batch (lowercase) in scripts and CI
Centralize flag values in a config constant rather than hand-writing them per job
Validate config files at startup with the same mode constants

When it happens

Trigger: Passing --dolt-auto-commit with a misspelled or unsupported value, e.g. --dolt-auto-commit=auto, --dolt-auto-commit=OFF (case-sensitive), or an empty string from an env/config source feeding the flag.

Common situations: Typo in scripts or CI pipelines; copy-pasting config from older bd versions where different mode names existed; setting BD_DOLT_AUTO_COMMIT-like env values with wrong casing.

Understand the failure class

Background: "unknown output mode", "invalid value for flag", "expects true/false": fixing invalid flag value errors in CLI tools — this error's family across 24 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e32305ab4198597f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cmd/bd/dolt_autocommit_config.go:31

	doltAutoCommitBatch doltAutoCommitMode = "batch"
)

func getDoltAutoCommitMode() (doltAutoCommitMode, error) {
	mode := strings.TrimSpace(strings.ToLower(doltAutoCommit))
	if mode == "" {
		// Default resolved at store-creation time in main.go based on server mode.
		// If still empty here, fall back to off (safe default).
		mode = string(doltAutoCommitOff)
	}
	switch doltAutoCommitMode(mode) {
	case doltAutoCommitOff:
		return doltAutoCommitOff, nil
	case doltAutoCommitOn:
		return doltAutoCommitOn, nil
	case doltAutoCommitBatch:
		return doltAutoCommitBatch, nil
	default:
		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid --dolt-auto-commit=%q (valid: off, on, batch)", doltAutoCommit)
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)