gastownhall/beads · error

read labels for %s: %w

Error message

read labels for %s: %w

What it means

copyIssueRelations reads an issue's labels from the source database before copying them to the destination. If src.GetLabels fails (storage/driver error), the whole migration aborts with this wrapped error so no partial copy is mistaken for success.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/migrate_personal.go:207

	fmt.Printf("\n%s Moved %d %s to %s\n",
		ui.RenderPass("✓"),
		len(personal),
		pluralIssue(len(personal)),
		ui.RenderAccent(planningPath))
	return nil
}

// copyIssueRelations copies the labels, dependency records, and comments for a
// single issue from src to dst. The issue row itself must already exist in dst
// (created in phase 1a of runMigratePersonal). Every step — including the reads
// from src — is fatal on error so the caller can abort the migration before any
// source data is deleted; a partial copy must never be mistaken for success
// (maphew review, be-e2nb).
func copyIssueRelations(ctx context.Context, src, dst storage.DoltStorage, issue *types.Issue, actor string) error {
	labels, err := src.GetLabels(ctx, issue.ID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("read labels for %s: %w", issue.ID, err)
	}
	for _, label := range labels {
		if err := dst.AddLabel(ctx, issue.ID, label, actor); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("copy label %q for %s: %w", label, issue.ID, err)
		}
	}

	deps, err := src.GetDependencyRecords(ctx, issue.ID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("read dependencies for %s: %w", issue.ID, err)
	}
	for _, dep := range deps {
		if err := dst.AddDependency(ctx, dep, actor); err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("copy dependency %s→%s: %w", dep.IssueID, dep.DependsOnID, err)
		}
	}

	comments, err := src.GetIssueComments(ctx, issue.ID)

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

  1. Check the wrapped inner error (%w) for the underlying driver message and fix storage access (close other bd processes, unlock the DB).
  2. Verify the source database opens correctly: run bd doctor or a simple bd list against the source path before re-running migration.
  3. Re-run bd migrate-personal after fixing storage; the fatal-on-error design means retry is safe.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// before migrating, verify source storage is readable
if _, err := src.GetLabels(ctx, issue.ID); err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("pre-flight: source labels unreadable: %w", err)
}

Try / catch

if err := copyIssueRelations(ctx, src, dst, issue, actor); err != nil {
    var inner error
    errors.As(err, &inner) // log full chain: read labels for <id>: <driver err>
    return err // abort migration; source must remain intact
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: src.GetLabels(ctx, issue.ID) returns an error during migration — e.g. source DB locked, corrupted label rows, or Dolt driver failure while reading labels for an issue.

Common situations: Migrating a personal repo whose source .beads Dolt DB is locked by another bd process, or whose label table was corrupted by an interrupted prior migration.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/47c12d3db6b3f3e4. Report an issue: GitHub.