gastownhall/beads · error

notion client is nil

Error message

notion client is nil

What it means

ResolveDataSourceReference requires a non-nil DataSourceResolver to call RetrieveDataSource/RetrieveDatabase. If the client argument is nil it fails fast with this error instead of panicking on a nil interface call.

Source

Thrown at internal/notion/client.go:208

	return &page, nil
}

type DataSourceResolver interface {
	RetrieveDataSource(ctx context.Context, dataSourceID string) (*DataSource, error)
	RetrieveDatabase(ctx context.Context, databaseID string) (*Database, error)
}

type ResolvedDataSource struct {
	InputID      string
	DataSourceID string
	DataSource   *DataSource
	Database     *Database
	ViewURL      string
}

func ResolveDataSourceReference(ctx context.Context, client DataSourceResolver, ref string) (*ResolvedDataSource, error) {
	if client == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("notion client is nil")
	}
	identifier := ExtractNotionIdentifier(ref)
	if identifier == "" {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not extract a Notion ID from %q", ref)
	}
	if ds, err := client.RetrieveDataSource(ctx, identifier); err == nil {
		return &ResolvedDataSource{
			InputID:      identifier,
			DataSourceID: ds.ID,
			DataSource:   ds,
			ViewURL:      strings.TrimSpace(ref),
		}, nil
	} else {
		db, dbErr := client.RetrieveDatabase(ctx, identifier)
		if dbErr != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("resolve %q as data source: %w; as database: %v", ref, err, dbErr)
		}
		if len(db.DataSources) == 0 || strings.TrimSpace(db.DataSources[0].ID) == "" {

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Construct the client with notion.NewClient(token) before resolving references and propagate any constructor error.
2. Guard the call site: skip resolution (or return a config error) when Notion is not configured.
3. Check that the variable holding the client is typed as an interface, not a typed-nil pointer like (*notion.Client)(nil).
4. Log client initialization failures where they happen instead of deferring to the resolve call.

Example fix

// before
resolved, err := notion.ResolveDataSourceReference(ctx, client, viewURL) // client may be nil
// after
if client == nil {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("notion integration not configured: missing client")
}
resolved, err := notion.ResolveDataSourceReference(ctx, client, viewURL)

if client == nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("notion client not configured")
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling notion.ResolveDataSourceReference with a nil client or a nil-typed interface value — e.g. the client was never constructed because config/token loading failed earlier and the nil was passed through.

Common situations: Constructor errors swallowed upstream so the code proceeds with a nil *notion.Client; optional integration wiring where Notion is unconfigured but the resolver is still invoked; test fixtures forgetting to initialize the client.

Related errors

• could not extract a Notion ID from %q
• Notion token not configured
• multiple .doltcfg directories detected
• dolt directory is required
• httpapi: a configured role fires this workspace's hooks; thi

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/17f75ec740b3debc. Report an issue: GitHub.