What causes "resolving attachment ID %s: %w" in gastownhall/beads?

Run bd list and copy the exact attachment ID into --attach

resolving attachment ID %s: %w

Error message

resolving attachment ID %s: %w

What it means

When pouring with --attach arguments, each attachment argument is resolved to a full issue ID via ResolvePartialID. This error wraps the resolution failure, so the attachment argument was neither a complete ID nor resolvable to a unique existing issue. The wrapped cause from ResolvePartialID is preserved.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/mol_proxied_server.go:85

			if !isProto(protoIssue) {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("%s is not a proto (missing '%s' label)", protoID, MoleculeLabel)
			}
			subgraph, err = loadTemplateSubgraph(ctx, w, protoID)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("loading proto: %w", err)
			}
		}

		type attachmentInfo struct {
			id       string
			issue    *types.Issue
			subgraph *TemplateSubgraph
		}
		var attachments []attachmentInfo
		for _, attachArg := range in.attachArgs {
			attachID, err := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, w, attachArg)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("resolving attachment ID %s: %w", attachArg, err)
			}
			attachIssue, err := w.GetIssue(ctx, attachID)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("loading attachment %s: %w", attachID, err)
			}
			if !isProto(attachIssue) {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("%s is not a proto (missing '%s' label)", attachID, MoleculeLabel)
			}
			attachSubgraph, err := loadTemplateSubgraph(ctx, w, attachID)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("loading attachment subgraph %s: %w", attachID, err)
			}
			attachments = append(attachments, attachmentInfo{attachID, attachIssue, attachSubgraph})
		}

		vars := applyVariableDefaults(vars, subgraph)

		var attachSubgraphs []*TemplateSubgraph

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

Run bd list and copy the exact attachment ID into --attach
Check you're in the repository whose database contains the attachment proto
Sync (bd dolt pull) if the attachment was created on another machine
Retry with a longer, unambiguous ID prefix

Example fix

// before
$ bd mol pour mol-fix --attach bd-9
Error: resolving attachment ID bd-9: ...
// after
$ bd list | grep attach
$ bd mol pour mol-fix --attach bd-900

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// resolve each --attach argument before pouring
for _, arg := range attachArgs {
	if _, err := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, reader, arg); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("--attach %q does not resolve to an issue", arg)
	}
}

Try / catch

err := pourCmd(args)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "resolving attachment ID") {
	return fmt.Errorf("bad --attach value; see `bd list` for valid IDs")
}

Prevention

Copy attachment IDs verbatim from bd list output
Use long enough ID prefixes to be unambiguous
Sync before attaching protos created on other machines
Confirm attachment existence with bd show before scripting pours

When it happens

Trigger: Running `bd mol pour <proto> --attach <arg>` where <arg> is a typo'd partial ID, an ID that doesn't exist in the current database, or an ambiguous prefix matching multiple issues (depending on resolver behavior).

Common situations: Typos or truncated prefixes that don't match; attaching protos stored in a different repo/database; referencing an attachment deleted by gc or not yet synced from another machine.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9cdb768270f9f789. Report an issue: GitHub.