gastownhall/beads · error

%s; %s

Error message

%s; %s

What it means

backupDir's fallback path uses the beads workspace directory (.beads/backup). When beads.FindBeadsDir() returns empty, it fails with '%s; %s' combining the shared 'no active beads workspace found' message and diagHint() ('run bd where to inspect the resolved workspace, or bd init to create a new database'). This is the terminal error when neither the configured git-repo nor a workspace is available.

Source

Thrown at cmd/bd/backup_export.go:47

	gitRepo := config.GetString("backup.git-repo")
	if gitRepo != "" {
		if strings.HasPrefix(gitRepo, "~/") {
			home, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
			gitRepo = filepath.Join(home, gitRepo[2:])
		}
		if _, err := os.Stat(filepath.Join(gitRepo, ".git")); err != nil {
			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: backup.git-repo %s is not a git repo, falling back to .beads/backup\n", gitRepo)
		} else {
			dir := filepath.Join(gitRepo, "backup")
			if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0700); err != nil {
				return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create backup dir in git-repo: %w", err)
			}
			return dir, nil
		}
	}
	beadsDir := beads.FindBeadsDir()
	if beadsDir == "" {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s; %s", activeWorkspaceNotFoundError(), diagHint())
	}
	dir := filepath.Join(beadsDir, "backup")
	if err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0700); err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create backup directory: %w", err)
	}
	return dir, nil
}

// loadBackupState reads the backup state file, returning a zero state if missing.
func loadBackupState(dir string) (*backupState, error) {
	path := filepath.Join(dir, "backup_state.json")
	data, err := os.ReadFile(path) //nolint:gosec // path is constructed internally
	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
		return &backupState{}, nil
	}
	if err != nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read backup state: %w", err)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Run 'bd init' in the repo to create the .beads workspace
2. Run 'bd where' (per the hint) to see how bd resolved the workspace and fix cwd/BEADS_DIR
3. Set a valid, writable backup.git-repo so the primary path is used instead of the fallback
4. cd into the workspace root before running backup commands

Example fix

// before
cd /tmp && bd backup export
// error: no active beads workspace found; run 'bd where' ...
// after
cd /path/to/bd-repo && bd backup export   # or: bd init

if beads.FindBeadsDir() == "" {
    return errors.Errorf("no active beads workspace found; %s", diagHint())
}
// then safe to call backupDir()

dir, err := backupDir()
if err != nil {
    if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no active beads workspace found") {
        return fmt.Errorf("initialize first: bd init (hint included in error)")
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running backup export or auto-backup outside any beads workspace, or with backup.git-repo unset/invalid so the code falls through to FindBeadsDir which returns empty (no .beads found up the tree, BEADS_DIR unset/invalid).

Common situations: Running `bd backup export` in a plain git repo without bd init, deleted .beads directory, scripts run from $HOME or /tmp, misconfigured backup.git-repo triggering the fallback into a workspace-less cwd.

Related errors

• %s
• no backup destination configured
• failed to remove backup: %w
• failed to create backup dir in git-repo: %w
• failed to create backup directory: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fba70e27eb108e3d. Report an issue: GitHub.