gastownhall/beads · error

query %s constraint violations: %w

Error message

query %s constraint violations: %w

What it means

violationsAreIssueFKOnly inspects the per-table dolt_constraint_violations_<table> rows to confirm all violations are foreign-key violations before auto-repair deletes anything. If the SELECT against that table fails, this wrapped error is returned and repair refuses to proceed (safety-first behavior).

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/versioncontrolops/mergesettle.go:930

		if err := rows.Scan(&t); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("scan constraint violation: %w", err)
		}
		tables = append(tables, t)
	}
	return tables, rows.Err()
}

// violationsAreIssueFKOnly reports whether every constraint violation recorded
// for table is a foreign-key violation referencing issues — the only class the
// cascade repair understands. violation_info is Dolt's JSON descriptor; its
// ReferencedTable names the FK's parent.
func violationsAreIssueFKOnly(ctx context.Context, db DBConn, table string) (bool, error) {
	// table is from the fixed fkCascadeRepairDeletes allowlist, never user input.
	//nolint:gosec // G202: hardcoded table name.
	rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx,
		"SELECT violation_type, violation_info FROM dolt_constraint_violations_"+table)
	if err != nil {
		return false, fmt.Errorf("query %s constraint violations: %w", table, err)
	}
	defer rows.Close()
	for rows.Next() {
		var vtype string
		var vinfo any
		if err := rows.Scan(&vtype, &vinfo); err != nil {
			return false, fmt.Errorf("scan %s constraint violation: %w", table, err)
		}
		if vtype != "foreign key" {
			return false, nil
		}
		// Server mode returns violation_info as JSON text; the embedded engine
		// hands back the driver's native value (e.g. merge.FkCVMeta), which
		// marshals to the same JSON.
		var infoJSON []byte
		switch v := vinfo.(type) {
		case []byte:
			infoJSON = v

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped %w error: 'doesn't exist' typically means there are no violations for this table — safe to skip.
2. Confirm dolt_constraint_violations lists this table with num_violations > 0 before reading the per-table violations.
3. Retry once the merge transaction state is healthy.
4. Align Dolt engine version with what beads supports.

Example fix

// before
rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx, "SELECT violation_type, violation_info FROM dolt_constraint_violations_"+table)
if err != nil {
    return false, fmt.Errorf("query %s constraint violations: %w", table, err)
}
// after: treat missing violations table as no-violations
rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx, "SELECT violation_type, violation_info FROM dolt_constraint_violations_"+table)
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "doesn't exist") {
        return true, nil
    }
    return false, fmt.Errorf("query %s constraint violations: %w", table, err)
}

var n int
_ = db.QueryRow("SELECT num_violations FROM dolt_constraint_violations WHERE `table` = ?", table).Scan(&n)
// only query per-table violations when n > 0

func tableHasViolations(ctx context.Context, db DBConn, table string) bool {
    var n int
    _ = db.QueryRow("SELECT num_violations FROM dolt_constraint_violations WHERE `table` = ?", table).Scan(&n)
    return n > 0
}

ok, err := violationsAreIssueFKOnly(ctx, db, t)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "constraint violations") {
    if !tableHasViolations(ctx, db, t) {
        continue // nothing to verify
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: SELECT violation_type, violation_info FROM dolt_constraint_violations_<table> fails — the table doesn't exist because no violations were recorded, engine version mismatch on the per-table violations layout, or transaction/connection errors.

Common situations: Repair invoked when no violations table exists for that table (violations already resolved); Dolt versions naming or shaping the per-table violations table differently; server mode restricting system-table reads.

Related errors

• pull merge left constraint violations bd cannot auto-repair;
• creating wisp_dependencies for migration 0047: %w
• query constraint violations: %w
• scan constraint violation: %w
• iterate constraint violations: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7fd4934880148d95. Report an issue: GitHub.