gastownhall/beads · error

remove remote %s: %w

Error message

remove remote %s: %w

What it means

RemoveRemote removes a configured Dolt remote by executing CALL DOLT_REMOTE('remove', ?). This error wraps any failure of that stored-procedure call — the most common being that the named remote does not exist, or the Dolt engine rejected/failed the removal. The remote name is embedded in the message to identify which removal failed.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/versioncontrolops/remotes.go:32

		return nil, fmt.Errorf("list remotes: %w", err)
	}
	defer rows.Close()

	var remotes []storage.RemoteInfo
	for rows.Next() {
		var r storage.RemoteInfo
		if err := rows.Scan(&r.Name, &r.URL); err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("scan remote: %w", err)
		}
		remotes = append(remotes, r)
	}
	return remotes, rows.Err()
}

// RemoveRemote removes a configured Dolt remote.
func RemoveRemote(ctx context.Context, db DBConn, name string) error {
	if _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, "CALL DOLT_REMOTE('remove', ?)", name); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("remove remote %s: %w", name, err)
	}
	return nil
}

// Fetch fetches refs from a remote without merging.
//
// If user is non-empty, authenticates with that user — DOLT_REMOTE_PASSWORD
// must be set in the in-process Dolt server's environment.
//
// A failed DOLT_FETCH can leave orphaned tmp_pack_* files in the
// git-remote-cache; the embedded store's connection teardown sweeps those
// (cleanGitRemoteCacheGarbage). Do NOT run DOLT_GC here: dolt_gc invalidates
// every other open session on the same engine, so a failed fetch would break
// concurrent in-flight connections (bd-6dnrw.10).
func Fetch(ctx context.Context, db DBConn, peer, user string) error {
	err := withRemoteEnvGuards(func() error {
		if user != "" {
			_, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, "CALL DOLT_FETCH('--user', ?, ?)", user, peer)

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Call ListRemotes first and confirm the remote name exists (exact match, case-sensitive)
2. Fix the remote name typo or skip removal if it is already absent
3. Verify the DB connection is alive and points at the right database
4. Inspect the wrapped error for the Dolt-level message (e.g. unknown remote vs connection refused)

Example fix

// before
if err := versioncontrolops.RemoveRemote(ctx, db, "origin"); err != nil {
	return err
}
// after
remotes, _ := versioncontrolops.ListRemotes(ctx, db)
exists := false
for _, r := range remotes {
	if r.Name == "origin" {
		exists = true
	}
}
if exists {
	if err := versioncontrolops.RemoveRemote(ctx, db, "origin"); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("remove remote origin: %w", err)
	}
}

remotes, err := versioncontrolops.ListRemotes(ctx, db)
if err != nil {
	return err
}
found := false
for _, r := range remotes {
	if r.Name == name {
		found = true
	}
}
if !found {
	return nil // already absent; nothing to remove
}

func remoteExists(remotes []storage.RemoteInfo, name string) bool {
	for _, r := range remotes {
		if r.Name == name {
			return true
		}
	}
	return false
}

if err := versioncontrolops.RemoveRemote(ctx, db, name); err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unknown remote") {
		return nil // treat as already removed
	}
	return fmt.Errorf("remove remote %s: %w", name, err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling RemoveRemote(ctx, db, name) where name is not a configured remote (Dolt returns 'unknown remote'), the SQL call errors, the connection is down, or the context is canceled mid-call.

Common situations: Typo in the remote name; remote already removed by another process/session; running against a repo_state.json without that remote; stale handle to a restarted Dolt server.

Related errors

• dolt_stats_gc: %w
• list Dolt remotes before git-protocol routing for peer %q: %
• failed to add remote %s: %w
• db: %s: %w
• remote-migrate gate: read remotes: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f210fc486fe9117f. Report an issue: GitHub.