gastownhall/beads · error

read existing export: %w

Error message

read existing export: %w

What it means

rewriteExportFile loads the existing JSONL via loadExistingIssueLines before applying upserts/removals atomically. If reading the current export fails, the rewrite aborts with this wrapped error so the incremental export never clobbers a file it could not read — protecting against silent data loss.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/export_auto.go:1183

		}
	}
	for _, s := range b {
		if !seen[s] {
			seen[s] = true
			out = append(out, s)
		}
	}
	return out
}

// rewriteExportFile applies a set of upserts and removals to an existing
// JSONL export and writes the result atomically. upsertOrder preserves
// append order for brand-new issue IDs; previously-present IDs keep their
// original file position even when their bodies are replaced.
func rewriteExportFile(path string, upserts map[string][]byte, removed map[string]bool, upsertOrder []string) (issueCount, memoryCount int, err error) {
	lines, err := loadExistingIssueLines(path)
	if err != nil {
		return 0, 0, fmt.Errorf("read existing export: %w", err)
	}

	// Apply upserts: replace-in-place for known IDs, append (in input
	// order) for brand-new IDs. This keeps stable ordering across runs
	// instead of scrambling the file on every change.
	for _, id := range upsertOrder {
		line, ok := upserts[id]
		if !ok {
			continue
		}
		lines.set(id, line)
	}

	for id := range removed {
		lines.remove(id)
	}

	w, err := atomicfile.Create(path, 0o644)

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Regenerate the file with an explicit full export: `bd export -o .beads/issues.jsonl`, then retry `bd sync`
2. Restore the file from git history if it was deleted or corrupted
3. Fix filesystem-level issues (permissions, disk space) reported in the wrapped error

Example fix

// before
// read existing export: open .beads/issues.jsonl: no such file or directory
// after
bd export -o .beads/issues.jsonl
bd sync

// Verify the export file exists and is readable before incremental sync
if f, err := os.Open(".beads/issues.jsonl"); err != nil {
    fmt.Println("export file missing/unreadable; do a full export")
} else {
    f.Close()
}

err := sync()
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "read existing export") {
    // Fall back: regenerate the file with an explicit full export
    runCmd("bd", "export", "-o", ".beads/issues.jsonl")
    err = sync()
}

When it happens

Trigger: tryIncrementalExport calls rewriteExportFile, which calls loadExistingExportFile/loadExistingIssueLines(path) and gets a read/open/decode error — missing directory, permission denied, or malformed file when the reader rejects it.

Common situations: .beads/issues.jsonl deleted or moved after the incremental path decided to use it; permission changes; disk full during read; corrupted JSONL from a crashed prior write.

Related errors

• open batch file: %w
• open dependency file: %w
• read dependency file: %w
• failed to initialize database: %w
• failed to load issues: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/25bc3811e530d353. Report an issue: GitHub.