gastownhall/beads · error

not found as formula or proto ID

Error message

%s not found as formula or proto ID

What it means

bd mol pour first tries to interpret the argument as a formula name; if that fails, it falls back to resolving the argument as a proto (template molecule) ID via ResolvePartialID. This error fires only when BOTH interpretations fail: the argument is neither a recognized formula nor resolvable to an existing issue ID. Note the original ResolvePartialID error is discarded, so the message alone doesn't say why resolution failed.

Solutions

  1. Run bd mol list (or bd list) to see available formulas and protos and copy the exact name/ID
  2. Check spelling of the formula name — try the formula path first in isolation
  3. Ensure you are in the repository with the database containing the proto (bd show <id>)
  4. If the proto lives in another synced repo, run bd dolt pull / sync before pouring

Example fix

// before
$ bd mol pour mol-fx
Error: mol-fx not found as formula or proto ID
// after
$ bd mol list            # find exact name
$ bd mol pour mol-fix
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// resolve the argument before pouring
resolved, err := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, reader, protoArg)
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a formula or a known issue ID; see `bd mol list`", protoArg)
}

Try / catch

err := pourCmd(protoArg)
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "not found as formula or proto ID") {
	return fmt.Errorf("check spelling of %q or run `bd mol list`", protoArg)
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running `bd mol pour <arg>` where <arg> is a typo'd formula name, a partial ID that doesn't match any issue, or an ID in a database that doesn't contain it.

Common situations: Typo in formula name (e.g. 'mol-fix' vs 'fix-mol'); passing a full human title instead of an ID; running in the wrong repo so the proto doesn't exist locally; referencing a proto deleted by bd gc or a sync that hasn't pulled it yet.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/47a9a60a335cb969. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at cmd/bd/mol_proxied_server.go:60

			warnPourVaporFormula(in.protoArg, in.varFlags)
		}
	} else if errors.Is(err, formula.ErrVarValidation) {
		// in.protoArg IS a formula; the --var values it was given fail
		// enum/pattern/required-empty constraints. Report that directly
		// instead of falling through to the proto-ID lookup below, which
		// would otherwise mask this as "not found as formula or proto ID".
		return HandleError("%v", err)
	}

	res, err := uow.RunTxResult(ctx, uowProvider, func(ctx context.Context, uw uow.UnitOfWork) (pourProxiedResult, string, error) {
		w := newUOWMolWriter(uw)

		subgraph := formulaSubgraph
		protoID := formulaProtoID
		if subgraph == nil {
			resolvedID, err := utils.ResolvePartialID(ctx, w, in.protoArg)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("%s not found as formula or proto ID", in.protoArg)
			}
			protoID = resolvedID
			protoIssue, err := w.GetIssue(ctx, protoID)
			if err != nil {
				return pourProxiedResult{}, "", fmt.Errorf("loading proto %s: %w", protoID, err)
			}
			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

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)