gastownhall/beads · error

running contributor wizard: %v

Error message

running contributor wizard: %v

What it means

In contributor mode, `bd init` runs an interactive setup wizard (contributor wizard) that configures the repo for contributing (remotes, auth, role). If the wizard returns a non-cancellation error, bd closes the store and wraps it with this message; an explicit user cancellation is reported as errCanceled instead.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/init.go:1881

				// Explicit --role flag overrides existing role
				if err := setBeadsRole(role); err != nil && !quiet {
					fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: failed to set beads.role: %v\n", err)
				}
			}
		}

		// Run contributor wizard if --contributor flag is set or user chose contributor
		if contributor {
			if err := runContributorWizard(ctx, store); err != nil {
				canceled := isCanceled(err)
				if canceled {
					fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Setup canceled.")
				}
				_ = store.Close()
				if canceled {
					return errCanceled()
				}
				return fmt.Errorf("running contributor wizard: %v", err)
			}

			// Contributor setup must also pin role detection to contributor.
			// Without this, SSH remotes can be inferred as maintainer and bypass routing.
			if isGitRepo() {
				if err := setBeadsRole("contributor"); err != nil && !quiet {
					fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: failed to set beads.role=contributor: %v\n", err)
				}
			}
		}

		// Run team wizard if --team flag is set
		if team {
			if err := runTeamWizard(ctx, store); err != nil {
				canceled := isCanceled(err)
				if canceled {
					fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Setup canceled.")
				}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Re-run bd init in an interactive terminal with a TTY
2. Check the wrapped %v error — fix the specific setup step (e.g. add a git remote, set up SSH)
3. If run non-interactively, skip wizard mode or pre-configure the remote/role manually
4. Press the proper cancel key if you intended to abort (yields errCanceled, not this error)

Example fix

// before (fails in CI, no TTY)
$ ci-runner exec bd init --contributor
// after
$ bd init --contributor   # run locally in an interactive shell
# or pre-set: bd config set beads.role contributor

[ -t 0 ] && [ -t 1 ] || echo "no TTY — contributor wizard will fail; run interactively"
git remote -v | grep -q origin || echo "no git remote configured"

if ! bd init --contributor; then
  case $? in 0) ;; *) echo "wizard failed — run interactively or configure remote/role manually";; esac
fi

When it happens

Trigger: promptContributorMode leads to running the contributor wizard; the wizard function returns err where canceled == false during `bd init`.

Common situations: Non-interactive terminal (no TTY) when bd init is run in CI or piped, user aborts an auth step, git remote missing or unreachable while the wizard probes it, or SSH keys not set up so setup steps fail.

Related errors

• running team wizard: %v
• --contributor requires interactive prompts and cannot be use
• --team requires interactive prompts and cannot be used with
• failed to get current branch: %w
• database is not initialized. Run 'bd init' first

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b6a7008e976c71c7. Report an issue: GitHub.