gastownhall/beads · error

search issues: %w

Error message

search issues: %w

What it means

searchAcrossIssuesAndWisps wraps a failure from searchTable against the durable issues table when filter.SkipWisps is set. This is the issues-only search path: any SQL execution, scan, or hydration error from searching the issues table is wrapped as "search issues". The issues table is mandatory, so no table-not-exist tolerance applies.

Source

Thrown at internal/storage/domain/db/issue_search.go:53

	name, ok := dberrors.MissingTableName(err)
	return ok && sqlbuild.OptionalWispTable(name)
}

func (r *issueSQLRepositoryImpl) searchAcrossIssuesAndWisps(ctx context.Context, query string, filter types.IssueFilter) (domain.SearchPage, error) {
	if filter.Ephemeral != nil && *filter.Ephemeral {
		page, err := r.searchTable(ctx, query, filter, wispsFilterTables)
		if err != nil && !missingOptionalWispTable(err) {
			return domain.SearchPage{}, fmt.Errorf("search wisps (ephemeral filter): %w", err)
		}
		if len(page.Items) > 0 {
			return page, nil
		}
	}

	if filter.SkipWisps {
		page, err := r.searchTable(ctx, query, filter, issuesFilterTables)
		if err != nil {
			return domain.SearchPage{}, fmt.Errorf("search issues: %w", err)
		}
		return page, nil
	}

	empty, probeErr := r.wispsTableEmptyOrMissing(ctx)
	if probeErr != nil {
		return domain.SearchPage{}, fmt.Errorf("search wisps (merge): probe: %w", probeErr)
	}
	if empty {
		page, err := r.searchTable(ctx, query, filter, issuesFilterTables)
		if err != nil {
			return domain.SearchPage{}, fmt.Errorf("search issues: %w", err)
		}
		return page, nil
	}

	return r.searchUnion(ctx, query, filter)
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 71377f2769)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped inner error (search issues: <table>: ...) to find the failing statement
2. Simplify the query/filter to isolate which clause breaks; check for characters or fields the filter builder mishandles
3. Run bd doctor to verify mandatory tables (issues, labels, dependencies) exist
4. Retry on transient connection errors and check Dolt server health

Example fix

// before: opaque filter passed straight through
page, err := store.Search(ctx, rawUserQuery, userFilter)
// after: validate/limit the filter first
if userFilter.MaxRows == 0 { userFilter.MaxRows = 1000 }
page, err := store.Search(ctx, rawUserQuery, userFilter)

page, err := store.Search(ctx, q, types.IssueFilter{SkipWisps: true})
if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "search issues") {
    var tbl string
    if name, ok := dberrors.MissingTableName(errors.Unwrap(err)); ok {
        tbl = name
        // missing mandatory table: repair via bd doctor / restore
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling SearchAcrossIssuesAndWisps with SkipWisps=true when the issues-table search fails: bad query/filter combination producing invalid SQL, missing labels/dependencies tables during hydration, connection drop, or ctx cancellation.

Common situations: Search strings or filter values that break clause building; databases missing the labels or dependencies table; Dolt server unreachable; oversized result sets hitting the MaxRows cap in combination with other errors.

Understand the failure class

Background: "query failed", "%w: SQL error" — wrapped database query errors in Go libraries explained — this error's family across 3 libraries.

Related errors

• search %s: %w
• search %s: %w
• failed to begin transaction: %w
• failed to recompute is_blocked: %w
• failed to commit is_blocked repairs: %w

AI-assisted analysis of gastownhall/beads@71377f2769 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/54114c75ce82b68f. Report an issue: GitHub.